Karneval - Tarnished Silver
by Salt-the-Catgirl
Summary: Set after the raid on Kuronomei. Uro is upset about being forced to leave Palnedo's side after the Circus raid on the Smokey Mansion. Kagiri and Kiharu mindlessly open their mouths and mention 'the blonde guy from Rinoll'. Putting two and two together, Uro realizes who their talking about and comes up with a plan to try and regain Palnedo's good graces.
1. 1 - Babbling Idiots

_**Karneval: Tarnished Silver **_

_**Synopsys & Author's Note:**_ Set after the raid on Kuronomei-So after Chapter 73+ (but without any assumptions as to what happened during that story arch). Uro is upset about being forced to leave Palnedo's side after the Circus raid on the Smokey Mansion. Kagiri and Kiharu mindlessly open their mouths and mention 'the blonde guy from Rinoll'. Putting two and two together, Uro realizes who their talking about and comes up with a plan that will either make Palnedo want him back, or make his own crew even stronger. But, when Yogi turns up missing, Gareki starts to realize he actually does worry about the hyperactive blonde. This story is starting out with a T rating, I'm not sure if I will make it M rated later on or not, I'm also not sure how many chapters this story will be. There is some GareYogi/YoReki substance, but I'm not sure if I'll make them an actual couple in this or if I leave Yogi with some sort of unrequited love, but Gareki will realize he does at least see Yogi as a best friend.

_**Tarnished Silver**_

_**Chapter 1: Babbling Idiots**_

"Forget it, I'm not going!" Gareki growled, pushing Yogi off of him. The blonde had been following him all morning.

"Oh, come on, Gareki-Kun, why not?" Yogi whined, chasing after the raven haired fifteen year old. "It'll be fun, like last time!"

Gareki stopped in his tracks, spun around on his heels and glared Yogi right in the face. Yogi could almost feel Gareki's beautiful blue eyes boring a hole through his head. "THAT'S EXACTLY WHY I REFUSE TO GO! I'm not about to join you guys in another stupid parade, just so I can be forced into that damnable cat suit of yours again when someone from the First Ship comes looking for you to help them with something," he growled. "I'm not even a part of Circus yet, geeze," he grumbled under his voice, looking away.

"That's no way to talk about Nyanperowna," Yogi pouted.

"Whatever," Gareki scoffed, "Look, I'm not in the mood to deal with people and crowds today, so just get lost and leave me alone, will ya'?" With that, Gareki stormed off into his and Nai's bedroom, slamming and locking the door behind him.

"You'll miss us!" Yogi whimpered from the other side of the door, with one last attempt at pouting Gareki into submission. "Come on, Gareki-Kuuun! It won't be as much fun if you're not there with us."

"GO AWAY, YOGI!" Gareki returned. In truth, Gareki wasn't sure what was bothering him today, all he knew was that he'd woke up in a worse mood than usual and he didn't want to deal with anyone, especially Yogi. He snatched up one of his books and settled in on his bunk.

Feeling quite dejected, Yogi turned and went back to meet the others to get ready for the parade. "Yogi? Where's Gareki?" Nai asked with wide red eyes. The little Niji half-breed was already in costume, Yogi had helped him sew it together, now he really looked like a Niji-half as he had the horns, wings, and a pinned on tail. He was simply adorable.

Yogi flinched at the question, but forced on a smile, patting the top of Nai's head. "He said he was tired from staying up studying last night. Instead of coming with us, he wants to stay and take a nap," Yogi said. He hated lying to the child, and knew the boy was probably aware that was what he was doing, too, but his version of the story sounded much better.

Nai tilted his head to the side and blinked, realizing Yogi was hiding something, but decided not to question it. He gave a quiet nod. "Alright then. Gareki needs his rest before he goes back to Kuronomei," he yielded, turning and running back to Karoku.

Yogi blinked. "_E-Even Karoku is coming with us?_" he thought. He sighed and rubbed the back of his head, "_Maybe it would have been better to send Nai-Chan to ask Gareki-Kun to join the parade. He always seems mad when I talk to him, but he listens to Nai-Chan._"

"It'll be alright, Yogi," Tsukumo said, patting Yogi on the back, as if she knew how to read that look in the blonde's violet eyes. "Gareki-Kun doesn't dislike you, he's just got a lot on his mind. He was about to head back to school before the Varuga hit Kuronomei, after all. He's probably just anxious, since his return is being postponed until they're ready to reopen the school, and needs a little time to himself."

Yogi smiled at his partner, she was certainly wise beyond her years. "You're probably right, Tsukumo-Chan," he nodded.

_***~Meanwhile~***_

Uro sat brooding in his new hideout. Azana had already left. Kiharu was sitting quietly in a corner, looking as though he were trying to sleep. The quiet of the room, however, was under constant attack, being interrupted by the continual beep of Kagiri's handheld game as he lay in the corner pressing buttons.

Uro's brow furrowed in annoyance. "Kagiri shut that damned thing off or turn it down!" he ordered, sending a jolt of punishing energy through the red haired power holder.

Kiharu scrambled to his feet, seeing his partner's fate. The blue haired power holder wanted to run check on Kagiri, but was worried he may receive the same treatment if so. "Uro-San?" Kiharu cautiously questioned, "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine," Uro sighed, "Just extremely annoyed. "I'm no longer in favor with Palnedo-Sama thanks to Circus and their raid on Smokey Mansion. They made off with Karoku-Sama, destroyed several Varuga, and made a laughing stock of me," he growled, pressing a thumb against his lower lip. "And that idiot he replaced me with? What was Ryuu thinking? It was stupid to make a move against Kuronomei so soon."

Kagiri shook his head, recovering from the energy wave that had surged through him. "I wonder if that guy was there?"

"Huh?" Kiharu asked as he and Uro both glanced across the room at him. "You mean the guy from Rinoll?"

"Yeah, the one who went completely crazy," Kagiri replied, still lying in the floor with his legs against the wall, his handheld game in hand, but turning his head so that he's facing his blue haired partner.

Kiharu shuddered a little. "Those poor power holders. I feel sorry for anyone who has to cross that guy."

Uro raised an eyebrow and slowly stood up. "What are you two idiots babbling about? WHAT guy from Rinoll?"

"The girl we brought that time wasn't the only one there, just the only one we managed to capture," Kagiri answered honestly, forcing himself into an upright position.

"There were also two kids and one other guy," Kiharu nodded. "The guy originally had blonde hair. Kagiri's 'Rasudan Bug' technique blinded them and we took the upper hand, but when Kagiri punched the dark haired kid, the blonde went nuts. His hair turned silver and he attacked both of us with thorn vines. He knocked Kagiri out, and even attacked the kid. I thought the dark haired boy was dead, but from what you told us, that brat was the same one who went into the void with Karoku-San."

Uro raised an eyebrow, as he remembered the blonde who had accompanied the two children that had entered the void looking for Karoku. The young man with golden blonde hair and violet eyes, dressed in a black and white tuxedo and a top hat, bearing two epees with rose thorns wrapped around the hilts. Yes, Uro remembered this blonde well. When the raven and albino haired children had entered the other dimension to pull Karoku out, the entrance sealed behind them. The blonde caught Uro between the two swords and threatened to scissor his head off with them if he didn't bring them back. Uro remembered the look on the blonde's face as he informed him that the entrance way could only be opened from the inside. Was this the same person the two power holders were talking about now? Considering all other evidence, it was quite possible. His eyes shifted toward Kiharu, then to Kagiri. "Tell me, this guy on Rinoll, is there any chance you ever heard his name?"

The two power holders looked at one another, blinked twice, then looked back toward their boss with a nod. "The kid called out to him at least a dozen times," Kiharu answered.

"Before I hit the kid, the blonde asked him to make a noise so he'd know where he was. I'm pretty sure the guy's name was Yogi," Kagiri answered.

"Yogi? You're certain of this?" Uro asked.

"I'm sure that was the name," Kagiri nodded.

"Yeah," Kiharu agreed, "I'm sure that's it."

"Yogi…? Yogi, why does that name…" Uro started thinking. "Sound so familiar…?" He returned to the couch and pulled out his laptop. When he left Palnedo, he'd kept everything that would allow him to access Kafka's files. He began searching. The two young power holders exchanged quiet, worried looks as Uro fell silent. Finally, Uro flinched and began laughing.

"U-Uro-San?" they both asked.

"Oh, you idiots!" Uro laughed even louder, standing up and approaching them. The pair trembled, hugging one another, and closed their eyes, expecting some sort of punishment. "You boys would have done better to bring me him rather than the girl." Uro slapped his hands down on their shoulders, still chuckling. "Congratulations, boys, you unwittingly tangled with the world's deadliest power holder, and SOMEHOW lived to tell about it."

"Huh!?" they both asked conjoinedly, blinking their eyes open.

"I want to meet this Yogi," Uro stated. "I don't care what methods you have to use, bring him to me, and bring him here alive."


	2. 2 - Fun And Games

_**Karneval: Tarnished Silver **_

_**Author's Note:**_ First off, I'm officially a day late, but Happy Easter everyone. Second, YAY! Karneval Chapter 78 is out! But again, 23 pages is just too darn short. Anyway, here's the second chapter. Not much of a cliff hanger, I think you can figure it out.

_**Tarnished Silver**_

_**Chapter 2: Fun and Games**_

Gareki looked up at the time, it had been hours and the festivities were still going on back on the ground. He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and sighed. He was feeling better now than he had before. He almost regretted turning Yogi down. He had tried to pretend not to notice, but he saw how disappointed Yogi had looked when he told him no. He could almost imagine the hurt on the blonde's face when he was told to go away, after he'd said those words, "_**You'll miss us! Come on, Gareki-Kuuun! It won't be as much fun if you're not there with us!**_"

Gareki shuddered as those words echoed in his head, just the tone in which Yogi had said it, that really had been his last desperate attempt to get the raven haired teenager to join them, hadn't it? Had it really been so long that Gareki had forgotten what it was like for someone to simply want his company, rather than want something from him? He blinked, once, twice, three times, then ran a hand through his hair, he could feel his finger tips brush across the edge of his goggles before he yanked his raven locks and closed his eyes. "I can really be such an ass, sometimes," he begrudgingly admitted to himself. "Right, it's boring up here by myself," he flicked his book closed, nimbly placing a bookmark all in what seemed one smooth, fluid motion, and sat the book down, rubbing his eyes. "My eyes could use the rest for a little while, anyway." He knew himself way too well, another hour or so, and he'd be asleep, book still in hand, and miss all the fun, not just some of it. He hated admitting it, and he never would show it, but these things were a lot of fun after the parade was over.

He pulled on his coat and strolled out of the room, the Sheep were ignoring him. Too bad he'd made up his mind to go out to the festival; this would have been the perfect chance for him to abduct one of them into his room and take it apart to find out what makes it tick. He smirked at the realization, he was a wolf among the sheep, but he was turning down his golden opportunity. "_One day,_" he thought, "_One day I'll get to see what your inner workings look like, but today, you're all off the hook, little lambs._"

"Are you going to the festival, Baa?" one of the Sheep guarding the exit asked.

Apparently, it had been given orders no one was to leave the ship unless that was where they were heading. "_Probably by that four-eyed-shithead,_" Gareki thought. He sighed and looked away from the Sheep as he languidly answered, "Where else would I be going?"

The horns on the side of the Sheep's head spun and it slowly stepped aside to allow him to pass through. "Have a good time, Baa," it stated.

"Yeah, thanks," Gareki answered, walking past the Sheep. He pulled his hands from his coat pockets and began slipping on a pair of gloves as he approached the teleportation pad. "Say, you have any idea where Nai and Yogi are located?" Whether he wanted to be with them or not, as soon as Hirato learned Gareki had left the ship, he would want the teenager stuck at their side incase anything else should occur.

"They are currently in the town square, at the dunking booth, Baa," the Sheep replied as it's horns spun so that it could access the information.

Gareki's eyebrow twitched, "Dunking booth?" _Oh really?_ That should be interesting. "I see, thanks."

Sure enough, when he arrived, unnoticed in the town square, Nai and Yogi were at the dunking booth. Yogi was hurling the balls toward the target, but wasn't having any luck. Nai flinched and glanced over his shoulder. Why was he still wearing his costume when Yogi had already shed his Nyanperowna suit? Nai's eyes lit up when he saw Gareki. "Ga…!" He started to call out to the raven but stopped when he saw a gloved finger press to Gareki's lip to shush him, followed by one of Gareki's infamous mischievous smiles and a wink. Nai turned back to watch Yogi lob another one of the balls, tucking his hands behind his back, having understood Gareki's message. "Too bad Gareki's not here, he could have done it," the Niji-Half stated, softly.

"Yeah, but he's not," Yogi replied, almost sounding bitter. Was it possible for the normal Yogi to feel such an emotion? He threw another ball and missed, with a groan. This was his last one, after this, he would have to pay for another try.

Gareki blinked at the realization of what he'd caught in Yogi's voice, was the blonde actually doing this to try and take out some frustrations? Yogi got ready to throw the ball, only to feel a gloved hand catch hold of him, fingers gently curling around his knuckles. "You're holding it wrong."

Yogi blinked and turned to look over his shoulder, a blush slowly sweeping his face. "G-Gareki-Kun?" He then shifted his violet eyes to the little Niji-Half who was trying not to laugh, realizing Nai had known he was there all along.

"Hold it like this," Gareki said, moving Yogi's arm into a different position, "Swing like this," he slowly moved Yogi's arm to show him, "And then let go when you reach right about here," he stopped Yogi's arm in the appropriate position. "Go ahead," he stepped back, "Try it."

Gareki was an excellent marksman, throwing a ball at a target shouldn't be much different for him to work out the trajectory, right? Yogi nodded and decided to try it the way Gareki had showed him. BINGO! He hit the bull's-eye and the man in the booth was dropped right into the water, with a satisfying splash. Yogi and Nai both gave an exclamation of joyous victory, throwing their balled fist into the air. Gareki smirked and held back the chuckle that wanted to escape his throat.

As Yogi was picking out which prize he wanted for having hit the bulls eye, Gareki started looking around. A dunking booth was fine, since you got to see the guy get drenched. It would have been better, in his opinion, anyway, if it had been Jiki or Kiichi, or even Akari in the booth. But he wanted something with a bit more challenge. "Say, are there any shooting galleries out here today?"

"I'm not sure, but we can try to find you one," Yogi answered as he turned away from the man with his prize in hand.

Gareki blinked as Yogi closed his hands around the prize and tucked it into his pockets. Was Yogi trying to hide it? Had he chosen something he was actually embarrassed to have picked out, or was it intended as a gift for someone later? Some of the prizes were small pieces of jewelry, maybe Yogi had found something he thought Tsukumo or Iva would like.

"Nai?" Karoku's voice broke across the way, pulling the attention of the three males toward him.

Nai smiled. "Karoku!" he ran toward his creator, the tail on his costume bouncing with every movement.

Karoku smiled and hugged Nai, ruffling a hand through the boy's hair as if he was petting an animal. "I'm starved, you want to go find something to eat?" Nai nodded happily, turned and waved to Gareki and Yogi, and meandered off with Karoku.

Gareki blinked, quietly, while Yogi waved back to Nai and Karoku. "Is it alright to let them go off on their own?" Gareki asked.

"They're surrounded by Circus members," Yogi answered, "What could go wrong? Come on, Gareki-Kun, let's go see if we can find you a shooting gallery," he giggled, catching Gareki by the wrist and pulling him along, his eyes dancing happily as they went.

Sure enough, they found one. Gareki wasn't interested in any of the prizes, most of them were toys for kids or stuff for jocks to try and win for their girlfriends while trying to look cool. He wasn't looking at the prizes, he just wanted a chance to shoot things, he missed having his gun. Yogi saw a hotdog vender across the way and decided to go get one while Gareki tried his hand at the shooting gallery. He offered to get one and a drink for Gareki as well. Gareki accepted the offer and told Yogi how he liked his fixed. Yogi nodded and walked away, promising to be right back.

Just like the shooting gallery in Karasuna, this was one where you had to shoot the prizes to win. Gareki smiled, just like the one in Karasuna, he was sure he could win the entire booth. He took the gallery's gun in his hand and spun it on his finger, just like in the movies. Oh yeah, he was going to enjoy this. *Bang.* A jeweled bracelet for Iva. *Bang.* A rose-shaped broach for Tsukumo. *Bang.* An assortment of candy for Nai. Two quick repetitive shots, and boom, a Nyanperowna plushy and a Nyanperowna pin for Yogi. Gareki smirked and twirled the gun again, that was a good five dollars spent (one for each shot). He had the booth keeper put the items in a bag and turned to leave to look for Yogi. Even in this crowd of people, Yogi's golden blonde locks were hard to miss.

Seeing the blonde lieutenant, and knowing the guy seemed to have some sort of internal homing beacon when it came to finding him, Gareki sauntered over to a nearby street side table and plopped down in one of the chairs, dropping the bag of gifts onto the table and trying to make sure the plushies were well hidden.

Yogi turned to see Gareki had already left the shooting gallery and began glancing around, slightly worried at first. He smiled when he finally spotted him, he was facing the other direction, but Yogi knew Gareki on sight no matter what angle he saw him from. "Ga~re~ki~-Ku~n~!" he happily called, running over to the table. Putting the food down on the table, he was still going full charge when he wrapped his arms around the teen from behind. "So, what made you decide to come out after all?" Yogi asked, his arms draped around Gareki's neck.

Gareki was use to this kind of display from Yogi, but that didn't mean he was comfortable with it, even though he knew Yogi was the last person in the world he ever had to worry about being a threat when invading his personal space. He caught Yogi's wrists and moved the gangly arms off of him. Glancing to his side, he noticed that Yogi had not only brought hotdogs for each of them, but drinks too. "_How the hell did that idiot manage to run over here, carrying all that and not spill any of it?_" he thought to himself with a bemused smile. "I decided I needed some fresh air, and to give my eyes a rest from staring at books all day," he answered.

Yogi smiled and playfully ruffled a hand into the hair on the back of Gareki's head. "That so?" he chuckled. Gareki moved to swat the lieutenant's hand away, he hated being treated like a kid and Yogi knew that. But before Gareki could even reach him, Yogi had already moved to sit down across from him. "You're right, you know," Yogi stated as he sat down and pulled his drink and hotdog closer to himself. "It's good to stay on top of your studies, Gareki-Kun, but unhealthy to stay cooped up inside all the time."

"I don't need the lecture, Yogi," Gareki sighed, "I'm not Nai. I'm well aware of all that." He tried not to loose his temper. Yogi was simply showing concern. He sighed and grabbed his drink and hotdog. "Thanks for the food."

For the first time since he came down, Gareki finally stopped and took a look at what Yogi was wearing. He was watching from the corner of his eye so it didn't look as though he was staring. It was unusual to see the blonde lieutenant in short sleeves, but sure enough, he was in a short sleeved yellow shirt with white polka dots with his tight pair of green pants. The outfit easily showed off the muscle mass the twenty-one-year old had, while somehow managing to make him look tall and lanky, maybe it was that mess of hair and those gorgeous purple eyes of his that pulled that illusion off. As Yogi bit into his hotdog, mindlessly scanning the crowd, Gareki's eye was pulled toward his wrist.

"You're still wearing that?" Gareki asked, his eyes having settled on the purple leather bracelet he'd won back in Karasuna.

"Why shouldn't I?" Yogi asked, realizing exactly what Gareki was talking about. Yogi smiled and looked down at the bracelet, running a finger over it with his free hand. He forgot to finish speaking, but Gareki knew what he was getting at, the look in those eyes told the whole story. Gareki tried not to blush as he looked at Yogi's face and realized why the bracelet meant so much to him. Yogi had never had a real friend outside of Circus, had never won anything from the game booths or ever had anyone give him anything. Gareki and Nai changed all that.

Though, Gareki had noticed Yogi always seemed to gravitate more towards him than to Nai. He was beginning to get suspicious that there was some other underlying reasons that Yogi simply wasn't voicing. Those suspicions would be right, too. Yogi felt something deeper than friendship, but was more than willing to settle at 'friends' than risk Gareki pushing him away completely if he didn't feel the same.

"Oh yeah!" Yogi said as he swallowed the last bite of his hotdog. "That reminds me… Now, which pocket did I put it in?" He started patting himself down until he found the pocket he'd placed the item he'd received from the dunking booth in. Pulling it out, he kept his hand closed tight around it as he passed it across the table. "Here Gareki-Kun," he said with a smile.

Gareki blinked curiously and held out his hand. "What…?" he started to ask, but he fell silent when he felt the cold metal pushed into his hand. Yogi smiled and before moving his hand, he quickly coiled Gareki's fingers shut around it to keep it hidden for just a bit longer. Now Gareki was really curious. He pulled his arm back and slowly opened his hand to find a gold pocket watch with a length of gold chain. "Wait, are you saying that out of all the prizes at that booth, you chose this for me?" he asked in disbelief.

Yogi smiled and nodded. "Your birthday's coming up in a few weeks, right?" Gareki nodded. "There's no telling where either of us will be by then, so I wanted to give it to you now. Think of it as an early gift. As soon as I saw it, I thought you'd probably have fun taking it apart and putting it back together." Yogi giggled and rested his right cheek on his hand.

Gareki smiled. Now it was him trying to remember the last time someone gave him something, even for a birthday gift. He tucked it in his pocket, thinking to himself he'd be too afraid to take this one apart. "Thanks," he said taking a sip of his drink. He let his eyes jut towards the bag and he smirked, purposely nudging it with his elbow to bring its presence to Yogi's attention.

Yogi blinked when the bag rattled. "That the stuff you won from the shooting gallery?"

Gareki nodded. "Yep."

"Wow, Gareki-Kun, you're really good, I bet you landed every shot," Yogi praised.

Gareki tried to hide a smile, as Yogi was looking at the bag with interest, as if he wanted to pry into it and see what was inside. Yogi stood from his chair, almost on his tiptoes and leaned toward the bag, tilting his head adorably to one side, just as Nai would probably have done. _What is it with cats and bags?_ "Curiosity killed the cat, ya' know," he teased. Yogi blushed and sat back down, with a quiet apology. Gareki did his best to keep from laughing. "Actually, there wasn't anything they had there that interested me… But there IS something for you inside the bag." Yogi blinked, his eyes lighting up like a Christmas tree. Gareki turned and faced the lieutenant with a smile, resting his chin on both his hands. "I was considering using them to bargain with you on some things, like maybe getting you to talk Hirato into giving my guns back until I return to Kuronomei… But, let's treat these as a thank you for the watch." He winked, reaching into the bag and pulling out the two Nyanperowna items.

Yogi fell completely speechless. Gareki hid his smile with his hands, though traces of it could still be seen in his blue eyes. The look on the blonde's face was priceless. "Th-These are for me?" Yogi asked, sounding stunned as he pointed at the items. He knew Gareki didn't like Nyanperowna, but he didn't think Gareki would ever purposely claim possession of any Nyanperowna merchandise to just give it away.

Gareki smiled and rested his cheek on his knuckles, giving a nod. "Yep."

Yogi picked up the pin and fastened it onto his shirt, he then took up the plushy and hugged. It was soft and fuzzy, probably more so than any of the ones he already had in his room. He smiled up at Gareki. "Thank you, Gareki-Kun." Gareki simply nodded and waved him off, he wasn't about to make a big deal of it. Yogi smiled as he stood up, they had both finished their meals, he hugged the Nyanperowna plush tight in one arm and extended his free hand toward Gareki. "Come on, Gareki-Kun, Tsukumo-Chan's show is nearly over, let's go meet her after the final curtain call," he offered.

Gareki smiled and stood up, tucking one hand in his pockets and using the other to pick up the bag of remaining goodies, and the trash from their drinks and hotdogs. Yogi closed his open hand and let it sit at his side, getting the message; Gareki wasn't about to hold hands like a kid being lead around. Gareki disposed of the trash and tucked the bag under his arm, rather than carrying it around by the handles. He rejoined Yogi, purposefully brushing against the lieutenant's side. "Alright, let's go meet her," he said, "I've got something in here she might like, too." Yogi smiled and nodded, at least Gareki was willing to walk along side him, anyway.

They turned a corner to head toward the theater. Yogi was paying more attention to Gareki than where he was going, he was glad to have the time alone with him. Gareki froze in his tracks. "What's wrong, Gareki-Kun?" Yogi asked. He finally turned and looked ahead to see what Gareki was looking at. The smile slowly slipped from his face. "You…?"


	3. 3 - More Important

_**Karneval: Tarnished Silver **_

_**Author's Note:**_ Uuugh… It's too early in the story for a fight scene! I actually had planned on putting one into Chapter 2, but I was enjoying letting Gareki and Yogi play at the festival so much that I decided to put it off for this chapter. Not much of a fight here, but a little bit of action, I guess.

_**Tarnished Silver**_

_**Chapter 3: More Important**_

Kiharu was standing in front of Gareki and Yogi. Before either of them could turn around, Kagiri had appeared behind them, their path was blocked. Yogi frowned at the two power holders. "Isn't that nice, Kiharu?" the red haired power holder chuckled, "I think they remember us."

Kiharu smirked. "Get a-load of this guy, Kagiri," he laughed, seeing the Nyanperowna plush that was held tightly in Yogi's arm. "He still plays with dolls."

Gareki glared at Kiharu. Sure, he may make fun of Yogi over his affection for the ridiculous yellow cat, but damned if he was going to let some Varuga get away with it. "So what if he does? He still kicked your ass on Rinoll," he reminded them.

Yogi held out his free hand, baring the pass between Gareki and Kiharu, his eyes narrowed on the blue haired Power Holder. He didn't care what these guys said about him, but if they were after Gareki again, then he was determined to put them in their place. "Stay back, Gareki-Kun," Yogi warned, "You're unarmed this time."

"Damn," Gareki grumbled, realizing Yogi was right.

"That's right, kid," Kagiri chuckled, approaching them, reminding Yogi he had two opponents as well as the one unarmed Kuronomei student in a narrow alley way. "You're unarmed, and this has nothing to do with you." Kagiri smirked.. "Tell you what, take a swing at me, if you can land the hit, I'll let you walk out of here safely."

"What's the matter? I'm not wearing anything that interest you this time?" Gareki asked. Like Hell he was going to leave Yogi alone with these two just to save his own skin, considering what happened the last time they tied in with these two, especially in an area with so many people.

Gareki suddenly felt Yogi's arm wrap around his waist. That exchange was all Yogi had needed to hear. "Hold on, Gareki-Kun," Yogi whispered, just before taking to the air. He knew the two would give chase, but he needed to find somewhere more open to fight them, the alley way was too dangerous with Gareki there. Yogi landed on a roof top and sat Gareki down. "Are you alright, Gareki-Kun?" he asked.

Gareki nodded. "I'm fine, Yogi."

Yogi smiled with a sigh of relief. "They'll chase after us, I'm sure. Gareki-Kun, I want you to run. Find somewhere safe to hide." He leaned forward and gently kissed Gareki's forehead, Gareki would at least let him do that much, right?

Gareki shook his head and took a step away from the blonde. Even if **HE** did come out, Gareki knew Yogi would keep him safe, either way, he didn't want to leave Yogi alone incase things did come to that. "I'm not just going to run away, Yogi," he argued, refusing to voice the words in his head, "_I'm not just going to abandon you!_" No, he couldn't say that, it would give Yogi the wrong impression. "You should know me better than that by now. I'll try not to get in your way, but I might still be able to find some way to help you."

Yogi smiled. "_Don't blush, don't blush, don't bl… My face is bright red isn't it?_" he thought.

The two power holders landed on the roof, just feet behind them. Yogi quickly spun around, his new Nyanperowna plushy flopping to the ground as he summoned his swords. "I don't know what you two are doing here, but if you're after Gareki-Kun again, you'll have to get through me, first." He couldn't remember what happened on Rinoll after Kagiri's Rasudan Bug attack, but he knew that somehow he had already ran them off once, what he did remember was that they were interested in the clothes Gareki had been wearing last time.

The two power holders looked at each other and chuckled. "We're not interested in your little boy-toy," Kiharu said glancing past Yogi toward Gareki, smiling even bigger when he saw that his choice of words struck a chord with the teenager.

"Huh?" Yogi blinked. Then what were they hear for?

"Oi! Who you calling a boy-toy?" Gareki growled in protest.

Kagiri smiled and jumped past Yogi, landing behind Gareki. He grabbed Gareki's arms and pulled them behind his back. "I tried to give you a chance to take a hike, kid," he hissed. "Our boss Uro-San requests an audience with your boyfriend here."

"Let go of me!" Gareki demanded, trying to pull free. "And he's NOT my boyfriend."

"That certainly isn't the impression you two give off, but whatever," Kagiri chuckled.

Yogi spun around quickly. "LET GO OF HIM," he snarled, a look of pure determination in his violet eyes. Yogi hated fighting, because failure wasn't an option. This he knew all too well. But when someone he cared about was in trouble, that's when he was ready to take things seriously. That's when the true warrior inside him really shined.

"Hey!" Kiharu exclaimed, "You should worry about yourself, handsome!"

"Yogi, behind you!" Gareki warned.

Yogi spun around just in time dodge Kiharu, who had lunged in to attack from behind. It was a simple skip to his right, moving him only half an inch out of the way, but at the angle in which the attack was made, the power holder's fist hit the ground, cracking the concrete roof below them. Kiharu stood and faced Yogi. "You want to fight, then I'm your opponent," the blue haired power holder insisted. "But if you don't want Kagiri-San over there to make mince meat out of that brat, I suggest you come along quietly."

Gareki smirked. No way Yogi would concede to such a demand. "Kick his ass, Yogi," he scoffed.

Yogi glanced at Gareki and Kagiri, then back to Kiharu. "So, you're saying that if I willingly and quietly follow you guys, you'd just let him go?" he asked.

_ Wait, WHAT!?_ Gareki couldn't believe his ears. Next to '_Look behind you_' that was the oldest trick in the book, was Yogi actually considering this? "Yogi, you idiot, don't be fooled by such a ploy!" he grumbled, still trying to wiggle free of Kagiri's hold.

Kiharu smiled and nodded. "Yeah, yeah," he said. "Come with us all nice and peaceful-like, and Kagiri-San won't harm a single hair on the kid's head."

Yogi watched Kiharu's face as he spoke. The power holder's voice sounded sincere, the smile on his face was doing its best to look honest, but the look in Kiharu's eyes were what gave him away. If Yogi were to willingly leave, they would either force Gareki to come too, or kill him at risk of having left behind a witness. "Forgive me, if I don't believe you," Yogi said.

"Are you calling Kiharu a liar?" Kagiri growled.

Gareki was relieved that Yogi wasn't so easily deceived. Taking advantage of the Kagiri's distraction, which had allowed the power holder's grip on him to slack off, he managed to wrench himself away and sweep a leg under the red head, knocking him off his feet in the process. "I said let go!" he reminded Kagiri.

Kagiri groaned and rubbed his bottom where he'd landed on the ground. "Oww…"

"Gareki-Kun?"

"Kagiri-San?"

Yogi and Kiharu both called out to their comrades.

"I'm fine," Gareki insisted.

Kagiri on the other hand, he was not so graceful about it. Letting out an annoyed growl, he pulled out his handheld game pressed a special button and held it over his head. "Rasudan Bug!"

"Hey, warn me before you use that!" Kiharu grumbled moving as quick as he could to shield his eyes before the technique blinded the two Circus members.

"Damn it all," Gareki growled, his vision blurring away. "Don't you guys have any other attacks?"

Yogi gave a confused blink, somehow, the attack hadn't effected him. Did Kagiri know how to make the attack effect single targets as well as multiple ones? Kiharu laughed and moved quick, pinning Gareki to the ground. "Like I said, come with us, and the brat goes free." He caught Gareki by the hair and yanked his head in a position that Yogi could see the pain on the teen's face. "Give us any more trouble and I'll break his neck." Venom was dripping in Kiharu's every word. This time he meant what he was saying.

"Ngh…" Gareki groaned. He couldn't see a damned thing, but he could hear them talking, he could feel Kiharu's hands on his head and neck, and the knee buried into his back that was holding him on the ground. "Yogi, don't listen to them!" he growled.

"G-Gareki-Kun…" Yogi murmured his name worriedly. Kiharu gave a chuckle and grabbed Gareki's arm. To prove his point and show he meant business, he twisted the boy's arm behind his back and began to bend it in a way that, with the power holder's strength, would eventually break it. Gareki gave a groan, why was it always THAT arm that got injured? Yogi's eyes widened, hearing Gareki's failed attempt to stifle a groan of pain. "No, stop! Stop, don't hurt him!" he finally broke down and pleaded. Gareki didn't have to see those violet eyes to know they were already full of tears, Yogi's voice gave that away.

"Yogi, damn it, no!" Gareki insisted.

Still holding Gareki's arm in a position to break it, Kiharu grabbed one of Gareki's fingers and curled it down until everyone could hear a sickening pop. Gareki flinched and let out another growl of pain. "Quiet brat!" Kiharu ordered. He turned his attention back to Yogi. "I'm loosing my patience. Will you surrender, or do I break every bone in his body?"

Yogi closed his eyes and sighed. He knew he should fight them, but he couldn't risk letting them follow through with their threat. "No, don't hurt him, please," he said lowering his arms as his swords faded away. "Alright, I'll go. I'll go with you, just don't hurt him."

Kiharu smiled. "There, that wasn't so hard, now, was it?" He caught Gareki by his jacket collar and pulled him into a sitting position. It would be a while yet before his eyesight returned, so it wasn't like he could run for help the moment they left.

Gareki didn't know what was going on any more. He was disappointed that Yogi had agreed to go with them, just for his sake. It's not like he would have called the blonde selfish if he tried to fight and they did follow through with their threat. Everything was silent for a moment, then he heard the sound of footsteps growing closer. He wondered if this was how it was for Nai with his sharper sense of hearing. The footsteps stopped right in front of him and he flinched as he felt a hand catch his shoulder. Unable to see anything, it had startled him, but he instantly calmed down, realizing who's hand it was. Yogi and Nai were the only two people to ever cling to him, to constantly hold his arm, wrist, hand, or shoulder. He recognized the lieutenant's gentle touch instantly.

"Yogi…?" he grumbled, wishing he could at least see. "_Damn it, I should have run when he told me, I just ended up getting in the way again,_" he thought.

Yogi knelt in front of Gareki. As long as Gareki was safe, that was what mattered. Gently wrapping his arms around the raven haired teen, to act as though he were simply saying goodbye, he leaned in toward Gareki's ear and quietly whispered, "It'll be ok, Gareki-Kun. As soon as your eye sight returns, call Hirato-San and let him know what's happened. I'll see what their boss wants, maybe he's considering divulging information about Kafka. I'll be back as soon as I can get away."

Gareki flinched. Yogi sounded like he had a plan. Gareki gave a quiet nod. "Right, just be careful," he answered in an equally quiet whisper.

Yogi smiled and ruffled a hand through Gareki's hair as he slowly moved away. "You too," he said softly as he stood up. "Alright, I'm ready," he said turning to face the two power holders.

"Oh, aren't you two just so sweet," Kagiri teased.

"Right, follow us," Kiharu instructed. Yogi nodded and quietly followed them. He hoped for the best, but was prepared for the worst.

They lead Yogi a safe distance away from the crowds before landing on another roof top. "Why are we stopping?" he asked. "Is your boss here?" He blinked at the two of them. "Don't tell me you guys need a break?" he chuckled, seeing the winded looks on their faces, "We've only flown half a mile."

The two power holders looked at each other with a half annoyed look. Yogi was a lieutenant of the Second Ship, that alone made him one of the highest ranking fighters Circus had to offer. It would make sense that he could probably fly twice as far from their current location to their destination without getting tired. However, these two couldn't afford him that luxury. Stopping to catch their breath had been a rouse, which seemed to work. "Get him!" Kagiri chortled.

Kiharu quickly tackled Yogi, wrapping an arm around the blonde in a way to prevent him moving his arms, and a hand around his mouth to prevent him from shouting. Kagiri forced the handheld device into Yogi's face, using the Rasudan Bug to blind him. "Sorry, but Uro-San's orders, we can't let you see where we're taking you from here," Kiharu said.

"Hold on a second," Kagiri said, catching Yogi's arm. He removed the Circus ID bracelet and tossed it aside. "We can't risk having them using that thing to track him." Kiharu forced Yogi's hands behind his back and tied them together, while Kagiri searched the now blinded lieutenant's pockets for anything else that would allow Circus to track him, tossing aside his phone, and several other electronic devices. "It's a shame I can't keep some of these for myself," the red head lamented, "They're all Circus issue and some I don't have in my collection, but it would lead them straight to us."

Kiharu chuckled. "Why worry about adding those puny things to your collection?" He grabbed Yogi by the hair and slapped a piece of tape across the blonde's mouth. "Once Uro-San's done with this guy, maybe he'll let us keep him? How many people can say they have a Circus Lieutenant in their collection?"

Kagiri laughed. "Uro-San's not THAT nice. Though, that would be pretty awesome."

_***~Meanwhile~***_

Gareki's eyesight finally came back. He put a hand to his forehead, closed his eyes and shook his head as his vision cleared. It was nearly sundown. "Damn it," he swore. Yogi had sounded so sure of himself when he promised to come back as soon as he could get away, but something in the pit of Gareki's stomach told him things weren't going to be as simple as that; that Yogi was in serious trouble. "DAMN it!" If only he could of done something more. THIS had been why he enrolled in Kuronomei in the first place. He was tired of being in the way, always having to be protected, not being able to defend himself or give Yogi and Tsukumo the assistance they needed in battle. Yogi shouldn't have to repeatedly put himself in harms way to protect him, if he couldn't do the same in turn. Gareki forced himself to stand up and reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. He scrolled down to find Hirato's number. Just before he hit the call button, something caught his eye, sitting alone and forgotten just inches from the center of the crater that Kiharu had left embedded in the rooftop. Gareki turned his head toward the object, to see the Nyanperowna plushy he'd won from the shooting gallery. A slight blush ran across his face. Of course, Yogi wasn't childish enough to prioritize a plushy over someone's life, but still, it was NYAN-FRICKIN-PEROWNA! Yogi and that damned cat are the same person and yet, there it was, the very symbol of that stupid costume, nearly centered in the damaged area of the roof, reminding Gareki that his safety was thought of first. "DAMN IT!"


	4. 4 - Letters to Nyanperowna

_**Karneval: Tarnished Silver **_

_**Author's Note:**_ First, to YogiXGareki Always, thank you so much for your favorite, follow, and comment/review on this story. I'm glad I was able make you feel like you were actually there witnessing it. I'd more than welcome a "crazy review", I hope I can continue to give you such enjoyment as the story progresses. I'm worried the next couple chapters may have people crying and throwing things at their computer screens, though. But at the same time, as long as my readers don't break their monitors (I really can't afford to purchase anybody new ones), that means I'm doing something right. To the Anonymous Guest who left a comment and to mysterious Q and waitingforimpossibilities who are following, thank you both as well, I'm glad you guys like it. Anyway, guys, this chapter's got a few 'feels' to it. Also, I'm sorry how long it took me to get this chapter done in comparison to some of my usual updates, I've been rotated back to morning shifts, so I have to be up and out the door by 5:30 am.

_**Tarnished Silver**_

_**Chapter 4: Letters to Nyanperowna**_

Hirato, Iva, Tsukitachi, Jiki, Kiichi, and Dr. Akari all stood on the roof with Gareki. Nai and Karoku had been taken back to the Second Ship by Tsukumo. Dr. Akari was checking Gareki over to make sure he was as 'fine' as he claimed to be. Physically, yes. Emotionally, even the doctor could see Gareki's usual strong mask of indifference wavering. Gareki had left everything untouched until the others got there, as much as he wanted to snatch that damned stuff cat up from where it sat, he didn't touch a thing.

"What I don't understand," Akari pondered, "Is why Yogi went with them? If these are the same people from Rinoll, surely he could handle them."

Gareki grumbled and looked away from the doctor. He was ashamed to admit he was the reason Yogi went. "Gareki?" Hirato's voice called smoothly. Forcing a shudder from the raven haired teenager and a glare from the pink-haired doctor. "That is the one thing you haven't explained to us yet," the Second Ship Captain continued as he approached the boy. Hirato always seemed to know exactly how to get Gareki to respond, whether Gareki was willing to or not. Was he trying to be a big-brother figure, or the father figure that had always been missing in Gareki's life? In truth, Gareki never could tell. "Why did Yogi go with them? Something tells me it has something to do with why you took so long to contact me?"

Gareki lowered his head and gave a dejected sigh. "I… They used that same technique from Rinoll and blinded me. He agreed to go with them if they left me alone. They said their boss wanted to see him, so he thought maybe the guy was going to offer information on Kafka." Gareki kept his face turned away from the others. He could hide his emotions with his voice, but if they got even a glimpse at his eyes, they'd see the truth. He clenched his hand tight around his left shoulder. Dr. Akari had assured him it wasn't damaged, but it was still sore from where Kiharu had twisted it. That was at least a convenient cover up. "But something tells me it's not as simple as that, Hirato," Gareki begrudgingly admitted. "I think he's in over his head."

Hirato smiled, resisting the urge to ask if Gareki was actually concerned for Yogi. Reading Gareki's movements, the Captain didn't need to see the teenager's blue eyes to know that he was worried about his friend, but if asked, he wouldn't hesitate to deny it. Hirato simply stood, quietly swinging his staff like a metronome, patiently waiting for Gareki to collect himself and look back towards the group. "Don't worry," Hirato finally assured him, "You've said so yourself on more than one occasion, Yogi's a capable fighter." He playfully tapped the jeweled tip of his staff against the top of Gareki's head. "And, if these are the same ones from Rinoll, as you say…"

Gareki scowled at him. "Are you all daft?" he asked. "Have you guys forgotten what happened on Rinoll? They forced out the Silver Haired Yogi, they survived a fight with him and managed to kidnap Tsukumo. You're all taking things rather lightly given the circumstances."

"_That's about the closest to an 'I'm worried about him' we're going to get out of the boy, I suppose,_" Hirato thought with a quiet sigh. He nodded. "You're right. Yogi is capable, but we mustn't underestimate the people we're dealing with, either, especially since he's alone, and these two _**are**_ aware of what he's capable of."

"But, they don't know why, nor how to trigger it, I'm willing to wager," Tsukitachi pointed.

"We'll look for him, Gareki," Hirato promised. "It's not like he doesn't have a dozen different pieces of equipment on him that we can use to track him. From what we've seen here, there's nothing they left behind to serve as any clues for where they're going. Come on, I'll take you back to the ship."

Gareki nodded and started to leave with Hirato. He paused. "Wait a minute," he sighed, trying his best not to blush. He had no clue how to pass this off without sounding lame. Admitting he'd won it for him would only make things sound worse. Then he remembered the watch from the dunking booth. _Perfect scapegoat._ "The stuffed cat he won today," Gareki pointed at the Nyanperowna plushy. "If there's no clues here, then can _**we**_ at least take it back to the ship and put it in his room?"

Hirato tried not to laugh. _Very smooth, Gareki._ "Go ahead and grab it," the black haired captain agreed with a nod. He smiled and twirled his staff nimbly between his fingers as Gareki walked over and plucked up the stuffed cat, pinching it at the scruff of the neck like a mother cat with her kitten, so as not to look like some child hugging onto it, and doing his best to ignore the stifled giggles coming from Kiichi and Iva, mostly Kiichi. He threw her a look that simply dared her to say something and tried not to smile when he saw the shudder that ran through her. Hirato gave his staff one last good twirl and used it to point toward the bag of other prizes. "Don't forget your bag, either, Gareki," he reminded him with a knowing smile.

Now they were all laughing. Gareki froze. "What the hell's so funny?"

"Come on, Gareki-Kun," Iva giggled softly, "Did you honestly expect us to believe YOGI won that thing?"

"That stupid yellow cat's never won anything in his life, what booth did it come from?" Kiichi smirked.

Hirato tried to keep a straight face, Tsukitachi was failing. Akari on the other hand, Gareki couldn't remember ever having seen that guy smile at anything, so he had no problem scowling at the Circus fighters.

"The dunking booth," Gareki growled.

"He won it at the dunking booth? Yogi couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a slingshot," Jiki interjected, "How'd he manage to hit the bull's-eye at the dunking booth?"

"With friends like you guys, who needs the Varuga?" Gareki scoffed, forcing them all quiet. Nobody had joked about Tsukumo's faults when these guys ran off with her. He was starting to understand why Yogi was so clingy towards him and Nai. "Anyway, not that it matters, but he did win a prize at the dunking booth, and this is his." With that, he dropped the toy cat into the bag, which he picked up and slung over his shoulder.

"Ready?" Hirato asked. Gareki nodded. Hirato smiled and carried Gareki back to the ship.

Gareki returned to his room and dropped off the bag. Nai wasn't there, no surprise, really, the little Niji-Half had been spending more time with Karoku lately and probably wouldn't return to the room until the Sheep told him to go back to bed. Gareki stared at the unusually quiet room for a moment, then blinked, "Maybe Nai should move into Karoku's room when I leave again, or maybe Karoku and I should simply change rooms now," he muttered aloud as he took off his jacket. He pulled out the assorted candies and left them laying on Nai's bottom bunk bed. He removed his gloves and tossed them on the top bunk, then reached into the bag and pulled out the rose pendant he'd won for Tsukumo. As close as those two were to Yogi, they could probably stand their gifts now as a pick-me-up. He tucked the broach into his pocket and pulled out the stuffed cat and carried it to Yogi's room. Everyone but Tsukumo was out looking for clues right now, he didn't have to worry about carrying it out in the open.

"Gareki-Kun?" Tsukumo called out, seeing him in the hall in front of Yogi's door.

Gareki glanced at her, solemnly. He could see it in her eyes what she wanted to say, '_He hasn't come back yet, you know?_' But she was clearly hesitant, because she realized how that would sound saying it to anyone but Nai. Gareki gave her a silent nod, as if to let her know he was aware of that fact and understood it completely. He held up the stuffed cat. "I know, Tsukumo, I'm just dropping off something he left behind." Tsukumo closed her eyes and gave a silent sigh with an understanding nod. Gareki reached into his pocket and pulled out the broach. "Here, I have something for you."

"For me?" she asked softly, walking up next to him. She held out her hand as he passed it to her. The rose shape of the broach was a soft floral pink, matching the roses she often wore in her hair, with small blue gem stones dotted around the petals to look like dew drops and a slightly larger white one in the very center. The green leaves on either side acted to hide the long horizontal pin that was used to hold it in place. "Wow, Gareki-Kun, this is beautiful," she said with a smile. "You're sure it's alright to give this to me?" Gareki nodded. "Did-did you win it?" she almost blushed as she asked this question.

Gareki nodded again, glad to see she liked it. "There wasn't much point in winning stuff I wouldn't have any use for at the shooting gallery, so I found stuff I thought everyone else would like instead," he explained, trying to make sure she didn't get the wrong idea.

"I love it, Gareki-Kun," she giggled, giving him a reassuring smile. "Thank you." She pinned it onto her outfit and smiled. "How's it look?"

Gareki leaned against the wall, a quiet smile on his face. "Very nice, Tsukumo-Chan, it suits you." She smiled and thanked him again, before apologizing for not being able to stick around longer. Hirato had wanted her to report to him as soon as possible, to discuss the search for Yogi and what to do about Karoku, Nai, and Gareki during that time.

Gareki let her go and quietly ducked inside Yogi's room the moment he was alone. "IF that Shitty-Four-Eyes thinks I'm going to stay on the First Ship again, he's got another think coming," he grumbled. After everything else, being stuck with Jiki and Kiichi was the last thing he wanted to deal with. "Nai and Karoku can go stay with those jerks for all I care. I don't need that aggravation." He turned the fluffy new stuffed Nyanperowna to face him and held it up over his head. "Isn't that right?" He stopped and blinked, realizing what he'd just done, suddenly glad there was no one else around. "I'm standing here talking to a stuffed animal," he mumbled. He could feel his face turning red. "Damn it all!" He tossed the stuffed cat onto Yogi's bed. "I'm starting to act just like that idiot! So LAME!"

Gareki blinked as he realized something. This was the first time he'd ever been in Yogi's room by himself. He'd always wanted to snoop around the room to see what kind of stuff the lieutenant might be hiding, just part of his nature as a thief, he always told himself. But he could never could do it with anyone else around. He smirked, the Sheep, Nai, and Karoku were the only ones still on the ship. "As long as I don't mess the place up," he reasoned. "Now, Yogi… Let's get to know a little more about you, huh? What kind of secrets are you hiding?"

Gareki lost track of how much time he'd spent in Yogi's room, he snooped through the closet, the dresser, every shelf and box, and every nook and cranny. He flopped over on the bed and splayed his arms with an annoyed groan. "Nothing!" he sighed. "He's twenty-one-years old, and all he has is this freaking Nyanperowna paraphernalia, and some random games and toys. Geeze, Yogi, ya' think you could have at least had ONE interesting item hidden in here?" His eyes widened as his hand brushed across something hidden under the blankets. "Huh…?" He tilted his head, there was a book shaped lump under the pillow. Gareki blinked and sat up. "Hello, what's this…?" He pulled the item out and fell silent. It was a three ringed Nyanperowna binder with several Nyanperowna notebooks inside. The words "Letters to Nyanperowna" scrawled across the top of it. Gareki felt the corners of his lips twitch upward in a mischievous grin, the kind of smile he only used for when teasing Yogi. "You've got to find a better hiding place for your diary, Yogi." Gareki sprawled out on the bed, flipping the notebook open. There were journal entries from as far back as Yogi's mental state would allow him to remember, ever since he met Hirato and Tsukitachi in Rimhakka. Gareki hadn't even been aware the Nyanperowna character existed that far back.

Maybe Gareki had become use to sneaking in snuggles with the Nyanperowna plushy that Yogi had given him when he left for Kuronomei, when he knew no one was looking and he had trouble sleeping, but he subconsciously wrapped Yogi's new plushy under his arm as he propped himself up on Yogi's Nyanperowna face pillow and began reading through the pages. It wasn't a read he'd been expecting. Yogi's mind was more complicated than he'd thought. Sadly, the dethroned prince still believed his family was alive and that his registry had been changed to protect them. Yogi stated he couldn't remember what happened to bring him into Circus's care, only that Hirato and Tsukitachi had saved him from a half-destroyed medical lab. As a child, he believed he had been ill and the hospital he'd been in must have been attacked by a Varuga. Gareki frowned as he read this, it almost seemed cruel that they lied and let him believe that, even if they had thought it was for his own good.

Gareki swallowed a gulp of air and let his mouth hang open as the pages went from talking about how great Yogi thought Hirato, Tsukitachi, Iva, and Tsukumo were, to how much he feared Dr. Akari. Gareki had heard Yogi complain time and again about how scary the pink haired doctor was, but his complaints were often jumbled and made little sense, leaving Gareki to believe it was just surgical trauma. But as he read these pages, where every little detail of the doctor's bedside manner in refusing to sedate him through several different surgeries and tests and examinations. Gareki almost felt like he was there watching it happen, and he felt his stomach turn.

As Gareki continued to read, he was slowly starting to understand why Yogi was so desperate to have a friend from the outside. The little prince of Rimhakka had become Circus's whipping boy. Akari seemed to view him as guinea pig, Hirato and Tsukitachi were just as prone to playing practical jokes on him as they were on the doctor. Kiichi and Jiki were… well Kiichi and Jiki. "Hell, at this rate, it's no wonder he acts like he does. Nai and Tsukumo are the only ones who've never done anything to the poor bastard," Gareki grumbled. He let himself out, because he'd become more than well aware of how he had been treating Yogi since they met.

Suddenly, Gareki found himself in the most recent entries. He really hadn't expected this.

_** Today, we had a parade. While I was handing out candy to the kids, some body knocked me down, it was a boy being chased by someone. The people chasing him ran across my back and got my Nyanperowna suit all dirty! **__**L**__** Hirato-San called and told me to go look for a couple of kids who were supposed to be in the crowd. He believed they were in trouble. One of them was the boy who knocked me over, his name is Nai. He has white hair with lilac tips and bright, innocent red eyes. He's a cute kid, real sweet, but he seems to have trouble understanding some things. The other was a friend of his who had unknowingly saved him from a Varuga. This boy is older and goes by the name Gareki. His eyes are a beautiful shade of blue and his hair is jet black and he wears a pair of goggles on his head. I'd be lying if I said I didn't think he was kind of handsome. Hirato-San says Gareki-Kun's a thief, though. But I think it's kind of sad. He puts up a real tough guy act, but he just seems so… lonely.**_

Gareki nearly put the book down there and then, but something compelled him to keep reading, as if he was curious what Yogi had to say about him.

_** Gareki-Kun keeps acting like he doesn't need or want friends. Keeps trying to push people away. But his eyes betray his words. I'm convinced now, he's lonely and afraid of letting people get close because he's afraid he'll get hurt. Even though he says they're not friends, he was worried when Nai-Chan fainted. We're all still shocked that 'Gramps' insists Nai-Chan is part animal, a Niji half breed, he said. I think Gareki-Kun was extra surprised.**_

"Why am I still reading this?" Gareki grumbled to himself, reading through several more pages. He then came across the entries about the Niji Forest and Karasuna.

_**Niji Forest:**__** I was so worried! When Nai-Chan dove out to rescue the small flower bunny, I ran to protect him, but it wasn't Nai-Chan the Varuga wanted. They acted as though they were going after Nai-Chan, but then turned and snatched up Gareki-Kun. I immediately took off to rescue him, of course, but I was worried, what if I couldn't catch up in time? I told myself I had to have faith in him, I had to believe he was alright. He is quite strong after all, even for a civilian, and he's so smart. I thought sure by the time I found him, he would have already escaped. My heart nearly stopped when I found the Leichnam-Macht. All that I could see of Gareki-Kun was his left arm sticking out. Just when I thought I was too late, Iva-Niisan came to the rescue. I was so glad Gareki-Kun was alright. I was a little jealous though, when I realized Iva-Niisan was carrying him back to the cave where we left Nai-Chan and Akari-Sensei. Poor Gareki-Kun had buried his face in his hands out of embarrassment. It was kind of cute, but I think it would have been better if I carried him on my back.**_

Gareki blushed. "Who the hell is he calling cute!? Idiot, why'd you even write that part!?"

_**Karasuna:**__** It started off great. I got to see where Gareki-Kun grew up, and he even won me a bracelet. There was a shooting game and I really stunk at it. I tried I don't know how many times, but I couldn't hit the bracelet. Gareki-Kun finally took the gun from me and shot, one shot, without even having to plan his aim. *BANG!* He hit the bracelet and won it. He nearly cleared out the booth after that, winning candy prizes for Nai-Chan, too. I love the bracelet, it's leather and purple, I may never take it off. Nobody's ever given me anything before. But, I don't know if I deserve it, to be honest. I failed him. While we were in Karasuna, we met Tsubame-Chan and her brother Yotaka. Gareki grew up with them, their sister Tsubaki had rescued Gareki after he washed ashore from a ship wreck. I think I was right about him being afraid to let people get close because he's worried he'll be hurt. He said his foster parents sold him, it was a slaver ship he was on. Tsubaki took him in and made him part of her family, but they were poor and someone killed her. I knew Gareki-Kun was hurting, but I never realized how much. I tried to hug him to make him feel better, but he pushed me away. I stayed up after he and Nai-Chan fell asleep, Tsubame-Chan thought she'd killed someone and said she'd been feeling ill lately. Gareki-Kun said that she and Yotaka used to take some kind of medicine that the person who killed Tsubaki had given her. I wanted to stay awake, afraid that if Tsubame-Chan had another relapse, she might find her way into where we were sleeping. Maybe if someone saw her, we could stop her. The three of us were in one bed at the time. Well, two beds, but we had pushed them together and Gareki-Kun was in between Nai-Chan and me. I thought they were cute when they were awake… Nai-Chan is adorable when he's asleep, and Gareki-Kun…**_ The next two words had been scratched through. "**He's**** really**"_** Never mind, I'm too embarrassed to say it. But it turns out that Tsubame-Chan wasn't the one who had killed those people. It was Yotaka. Poor Gareki-Kun, he didn't know how to take it. I tried to help. I really did! But, in the end, I couldn't save Yotaka. I was badly injured and the guy who had started it all showed up. I was unable to move, but I heard the guy tell Yotaka they were going to eat me. Talk about scary. But, Gareki-Kun… Gareki-Kun stopped the guy. He was going to hurt**_ Yet another word scratched through. "_**my**_"_** Gareki-Kun! I stopped him, though, cut the guy's arm right off. Hirato-San killed Yotaka and chased after the guy along with Tsukitachi-San. Distracted by them, I didn't notice that they guy's arm was coming for me, until Kiichi-Chan stopped it. She really told me off. She's always so mean! She even told us, while Tsubame-Chan was still right there grieving that we had been decoys to flush out the Varuga for the First Ship. Gareki-Kun sounded concerned when he saw my injuries. But deep down, I know Kiichi-Chan's right. I couldn't help Yotaka, and Tsubaki's murderer was stopped by Hirato-San and Tsukitachi-San. In the end, I know I failed him. I don't know if he'll ever forgive me for it.**_

Gareki's blush was even brighter. "IDIOT!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, burying his head into the pillow to muffle himself. "What's this 'my Gareki-Kun' crap? Even if he did try to scratch it out!? Besides, I NEVER blamed Yogi for any of that." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "If anything, I blamed myself for being so useless…" He looked back at the passage. The entire thing was littered with splotches of smeared ink. The evidence was clear, the entire page had been stained and smudged with Yogi's tears as he wrote this entry. Gareki blinked, as he tried to recall any other pages like it. No, no matter how he looked at it, there may have been a few tears scattered here and there when talking about his visits to Dr. Akari, but this was the first page that had been so littered with tear drops.

Gareki passed over the entry about the parade where Yogi had forced him into the Nyanperowna suit, he didn't want to know what the idiot had to say about that whole fiasco. However, that meant the next entry was about Rinoll. Gareki looked it over, blushing as he read the words, _**Gareki-Kun was talking out loud. I don't even think he realized it. He mentioned the feeling of his feet sinking into the snow was new to him. I knew this was Nai-Chan's first snow, I never realized it was Gareki-Kun's too. How cute! I wish I'd thought to use the camera on my phone to commemorate it for them.**_ "I've seriously got to stop reading this," Gareki scolded himself, but he couldn't, not now. The end of this one was tear stained as well. _**Gareki-Kun… He said he doesn't even see me as a friend. We've been together ever since he arrived on the Second Ship, so I thought for sure… I don't expect him to think of me the way I've started to think of him, but I had hoped we were at least friends by now. Maybe he really hasn't forgiven me for what happened to Yotaka? I wish… I wish I could remember what happened. The last thing I remember clearly was those two power holders using some kind of attack to blind the both of us. I called for Gareki-Kun to tell me where he was and I could feel the allergy patch fall off my cheek. After that, everything is blank, until I woke up in the Research Tower. They told me Tsukumo-Chan was kidnapped and Nai-Chan and Gareki-Kun were on the First Ship. I can't let them stay there. Even if Jiki-Kun was nice to them, Kiichi-Chan would surely bully them. Akari-Sensei's going to be mad, but I don't care. I'm going to Vinto to meet them.**_

The passage about Vinto was mostly ramblings about how happy he had been to finally hear Gareki call him by his name, even though Gareki insisted he had done so on Rinoll. It continued to talk about how relieved he felt to hear Gareki tell him that what happened on Rinoll wasn't anything to fret over, in the end he had saved the raven haired teen. Gareki subconsciously squeezed the new Nyanperowna plush a little closer before turning the page and skimming over the entries about meeting Yanari and everything until the raid on Smokey Mansion.

_** Gareki-Kun actually cried. I was suppose to take him back to the ship, out of harm's way. But, he wanted to come with me. He wanted to be there to help Nai-Chan rescue Karoku-San. Gareki-Kun seems to think Nai-Chan is the only person who cares if he lives or dies any more. Yet, he felt comfortable enough to let his guard down around me and cry. I'll never tell a soul I saw him in such a state, but I wish he would realize that Nai-Chan's not the only one. Everyone on the Second Ship has come to love Gareki-Kun as a member of the Circus family. I admit I adore him to no end. Hirato-San even asked him to become a Child of Circus, but that would mean he would have to leave everything else behind. Surely Gareki-Kun would rather be free to do as he wishes, right? I've been hesitant every time he's mentioned leaving the ship, but I realize it might happen one day. I couldn't take seeing him cry. I agreed to let him come with me. He made his way into the portal with Nai-Chan and then it closed. I had that bastard Uro in my sights. My epees crossed at his neck, I threatened to scissor his head clean from his shoulders if he didn't bring them back. But he said he couldn't, that the passage could only be opened from inside. I was so relieved when they both came back safe with Karoku-San in tow. But now, my worst fear is coming true. Gareki-Kun stayed with Nai-Chan until we found Karoku-San, and now he's leaving the ship. My first real friend, even if I'm the only one of us who sees it that way, from the outside, and he's leaving; just like they all do. I can't be selfish and ask him to stay, but I'll miss him. It's going to be lonely when he's gone.**_

Gareki couldn't take any more. He flipped the notebook shut and threw it against the wall and pushed his head as deep into Yogi's pillow as he possibly could, his grip on the Nyanperowna plushy suddenly becoming a bear hug. He was glad he didn't read any further, after that incident where Yogi had stormed into the room waking both him and Nai, demanding to know why he never answered any text messages, he didn't want to know any more what the lieutenant had to say about him beyond this point. Knowing who Yogi was with right now and why, reading any further would only serve to make him feel even guiltier. "Idiot, I told you not to go," he said quietly.


	5. 5 - An Offer

_**Karneval: Tarnished Silver **_

_**Tarnished Silver**_

_**Chapter 5: An Offer**_

Yogi's vision finally cleared. He found himself sitting on a couch. His arms were still tied and his mouth still taped over. He squirmed to try and free himself from the bonds, but Kiharu had tied them tight. "You idiots never do anything right," he heard Uro's voice scolding the two power holders. "You should have brought the kid, too, or killed him. You left a witness!"

"Mmnnrr…" Yogi growled upon hearing this.

"He-he was blind, Uro-San!" Kagiri exclaimed, "He couldn't see which direction we took, and we threw out anything this guy had to allow them to follow him."

"Besides, we promised him we'd let the kid go if he came with us peacefully," Kiharu added.

Uro glared at them. "Which brings me to another point," he said scoldingly, "WHY is he tied and gagged?" He came around the front of the couch and slowly removed the patch of tape over the blonde's mouth. "PRINCE Yogi deserves more respect than that."

"Eh…?" Yogi blinked.

"PRINCE?" the two power holders parroted.

Uro smiled at the clearly confused blonde. Giving a bow as Hirato would when introducing himself, he addressed Yogi in a gentle tone. "Yogi no Kimi of Rimhakka, please accept my apologies if my subordinates have wronged you in any way by bringing you here. I also humbly beg your pardon for my behavior the last time we met, I did not recognize you. You were but ten the last time you were in your home country." He remained bowed, but shifted his eyes toward the two power holders. "What are you two waiting for, untie him!"

"Y-Y-Yes, Uro-San," Kiharu stuttered.

"R-Right away," Kagiri nodded.

"And apologize!" Uro instructed.

"Y-Yes sir!" the both nodded. They quickly untied Yogi, and fell to their hands and knees begging forgiveness for their actions.

Yogi felt even more confused now. "Um…? I'm sorry, but I think you may have me confused for someone else. I honestly don't know what you're talking about."

"Tsk, that figures, you pushed those memories away and those Circus Freaks didn't bother to tell you any different," Uro said. "I have a proposition for you, Your Highness. Rimhakka may no longer exist, but I can reinstate your royal status." Uro smiled and extended his hand for a handshake. "IF you'll lend me your power in exchange that is?"

Yogi blinked at Uro questionably, then slowly raised his hand, as if he was going to accept the offer. Uro smiled, thinking such was the case. The two power holders continued to exchange confused looks in the background, both completely in the dark as to what their boss was referring.

Rather than shake Uro's hand as expected, however, Yogi slapped it away. "Like I said, I don't know what you're talking about!" he insisted. "I've never even heard of Rimhakka, and my parents are safe and sound hidden away from the likes of Kafka." The look on Yogi's face was full of certain determination. "I agreed to come along with your two thugs here, thinking that perhaps after your defeat at Smokey Mountain you wanted to divulge some information that would lead us to them, since they kicked you out. If such is not the case, then I need to leave before my superiors start looking for me."

Uro smiled and caught hold of Yogi's wrist. "I'm afraid you're not going anywhere, Yogi-Sama," he hissed. This was the Uro Kagiri and Kiharu knew. The two power holders quietly huddled together in the back of the room, frightened by Uro's instant personality change. "I was going to be civil about this. Your 'friends' at Circus have all been lying to you about who you really are." He pulled on Yogi's wrist, forcing the blonde back onto the couch. "Let me show you something." He picked up a remote and, holding it backwards over his shoulder, pressed a button, turning on a TV screen behind him, a sadistic smile still etched across his face.

Yogi reluctantly settled back onto the couch. Every inch of his being was already telling him he needed to get out of there. "Niisaaaan…!" a young girl's voice called from the TV.

Yogi blinked, something in the back of his mind reacting to the voice. His violet eyes opened as wide as they could get as he saw the image of a young golden blonde girl with the same violet colored eyes as his own running for her life, crying out for her older brother, she couldn't have been less than four nor older than six. "M-Miu-Miumarie…?" he subconsciously quivered aloud. The girl on the screen shrieked in horror and cried out one last time for her brother as the Varuga fell on her. Yogi groaned, closed his eyes and threw a hand to his forehead. Shaking his head violently, he could feel the sting of tears trying to invade his eyes. "STOP! For the love of God, stop!" he pleaded, "Turn it off." Uro smiled, feeling he'd made his point and turned off the video. "_Who…? Who was that girl? Why did she seem so familiar? Her voice, her eyes, her hair? Why…? Wait, that child I keep visioning whenever I think of loosing Gareki-Kun…?_" he thought to himself. His eye still closed, several images began to play through his head, images that he had to fight back, for fear of what would happen if he didn't. "Why?" he finally asked once he had collected enough strength to speak, "WHY did you show me that? Who… was that poor child?"

Uro leaned forward, a smile on his face, his hands behind his back, his head tilted slightly to the side, so that his auburn red ponytail was dangling freely in the air. "You called her name just now," he said softly. "That was your sister, Miumarie. The Varuga took her when you were ten. The people at Circus lied to you, telling you your family was safe. You, Yogi no Kimi of Rimhakka, are all that's left of a once prosperous country."

Yogi shrank back on the couch, his body giving a slight twitch of pain. "I-I don't believe you!" he refused.

Uro blinked and placed his hands on the coffee table between them. "But it's true. It's a shame they treat you with such disrespect, they all know the truth but keep it hidden from you. You say you don't believe me, but your reflexes are telling me otherwise." Uro blinked and gave out a chuckle. "I'm willing to bet even your little 'friend' Gareki-Kun knows."

"LEAVE HIM OUT OF THIS!" Yogi demanded defensively, jumping back to his feet. "I don't believe a word of what you're saying! Why would Hirato-San and the others lie to me about something like that? And to say that they're lying and Gareki-Kun knows about it? He's been nothing but honest with me since the day we first met!"

Uro stood calmly, that smile still not having left his face, his arms crossed. "You're protesting a bit too much, Yogi-Sama." Uro pinched the ends of his ponytail and rolled them in his fingers. "Are you certain he's been honest with you? He is a thief after all. They say the conman makes a better actor than the actor does a conman, you know."

Yogi frowned, his hands tucked tightly behind his back, his eyes still moist from the tears he'd tried to force back. He looked away from Uro like a child who had just been told to go stand in the corner. "That saying may be true, but I still don't believe Gareki-Kun would lie to me about something so important," he insisted. "_Not when he's told me his own unpleasant past._" He turned to make for the door once more. "This conversation is over, **gentlemen**," he put a sarcastic emphasis on the word. "I'm leaving!"

Uro sighed. "Very well… You leave me no choice. If I can't convince you, I'll just have to force you. … Kagiri, Kiharu, grab him!"

Yogi summoned his epees, without a blinded Gareki within dangerously close proximity, he had nothing to hold back for, this time. Sure he was outnumbered, but he was at least going to give them a fight. "Don't take me lightly. If you force my hand, I will fight you," he warned, his face revealing his inner warrior.

"Wait!? We took off his ID!" Kagiri exclaimed.

"How's he able to summon his weapons without it?" Kiharu asked.

"Idiots!" Uro groaned, pressing the palm of his hand to his face. "Fighters from the First and Second Ships of Circus are the strongest fighters the organization has to offer. Even without their bracelets, they're the strongest fighters the government has to offer." Uro smirked. "And even then, THIS one is the most deadliest of them all."

"Th-then why are you sending us after him!?" the two power holders protested in unison.

"Because compared to your last encounter with him, he's weaker in his current form!" Uro growled, "Now him or me, who would you rather deal with?"

*Gulp* "H-Hey, Kiharu…?"

"Y-Yeah, Kagiri?"

"I say we deal with the blonde."

*Nod* "Good idea."

Kagiri rushed at Yogi, who simply spun gracefully to the left, letting the small red head whiz past him, banging his head into the wall behind. Kagiri was strong, but still the weaker of the two, Kiharu was the one Yogi knew he really had to watch out for in a fight. The taller blue haired freak with the punk rock make up and crazy outfit had already proven a formidable foe once. "Ow…" Kagiri whimpered, his hands immediately going to his head. He couldn't deny this injury was his own fault.

Yogi turned to face Kiharu, standing tall and proud, a single epee resting on his shoulder to show he didn't need but one, the other pointed straight and narrow toward the power holder. He noted Kiharu's nervousness. "Weren't you the one who said you would be my opponent if I wanted to fight?"

Kiharu took a swing at Yogi, who blocked the attack. Yogi tried to counter, but Kiharu dodged. Without the ID bracelet, the two seemed to be on even grounds. But, Yogi, more determined to leave and less afraid of Kiharu than Kiharu was of him, eventually won out. As Kiharu came in for one more attack, Yogi dodged it, spinning around so that he was behind the blue haired power holder and kicking him into the red head who was still in the corner quietly berating himself for his embarrassing mistake of running head first into the wall.

Uro face palmed once more. "Idiots," he sighed quietly, using his power to send a shock of energy through all three of them. The two power holders yelped in pain. Yogi, having never experienced it before felt his body jolt and freeze. He couldn't hold back the tiny gasp of pain that escaped his throat. "If you want something done right," the auburn red head stated calmly, as he walked up behind Yogi. "You have to do it yourself." He pressed a rag coated heavily in ether to Yogi's face, covering the blonde's nose and mouth. "Now… Go to sleep," he said. Yogi tried to squirm, free, but his eye lids grew heavy and he was soon out cold on the floor.


	6. 6 - I'm Sorry

_**Karneval: Tarnished Silver **_

_**Author's Note:**_ Things are getting a little dark here…. Maybe I should have gone with the M rating?

_**Tarnished Silver**_

_**Chapter 6: I'm Sorry**_

Gareki was awakened by a knock at the door. He jolted and looked around. Before casing Yogi's room, he had locked the door to make sure none of the Sheep managed to slip in and disturb him. The last thing he remembered was reading the words, '_It'll be lonely when he's gone,_' in Yogi's diary before throwing it at the wall in utter disgust. It wasn't Yogi he had been disgusted with, but himself. He hadn't returned to the room he shared with Nai after that. He hid his face in Yogi's pillow, trying to muddle through the frustration he felt for having landed Yogi in the current predicament. Of course, the entire room smelt like the blonde lieutenant, or at least like his shampoo; warm and sweet, and comforting. He must have dozed off at some point. If his sleep had been plagued with his usual nightmares, he hadn't noticed them, or at least didn't remember them.

Gareki blinked as he felt something soft and fuzzy, and WET in his arms. He looked down to find the Nyanperowna plushy he'd won from the shooting gallery. He grabbed it by its neck and held it up to look at it. Placing his free hand on the pillow to push himself up, he blinked again and then froze, realizing the pillow was wet as well. His eyes slowly shifted toward the pillow, sure enough, he could see a dark wet spot. "No…?" Gareki muttered springing into a fully upright position. "I'm not…?" He placed his hand to his face and flinched. His cheeks were also wet and his eyes, though dry, stung. He sprang to his feet and rushed to a mirror that Yogi kept in one corner of the room. Sure enough, his face was flushed and his eyes were red. Neither of these were from having just woke up.

"Gareki-Kun, are you in there?" Tsukumo's voice called from the other side of the door, as she gave another light knock.

Gareki flinched. He'd fallen asleep in Yogi's room, according to the clock, it was about time for everyone to gather for breakfast. "Yeah… Yes, I'm in here," Gareki answered honestly, still looking at himself in the mirror, full of disbelief. He use to never cry, now this was the third time in his life to do so. He couldn't remember shedding tears when Tsubaki and Yotaka died. Sure, he felt sorrow, grief, and loss, but he didn't cry. Yogi was the only person to ever see him in such a state. Three times now, and Yogi was involved in some fashion or another each time. In truth, he'd hoped that knock at the door had been the blonde wondering why the door to his room was locked from the inside.

"Are you alright?" Tsukumo asked, both a little worried at the sound of his voice, and surprised that he was still in there. "Nai-Chan said you didn't go back to your room last night?"

"I'm fine, Tsukumo-Chan!" Gareki quickly answered, turning to face the door. He tried to keep up his usual mask, wanting to hide any signs of emotion from the outside world. This meant he had to come up with an excuse and quick. "I… I dropped something when I came in here last night. It rolled off somewhere, and I guess I must have dozed off while looking for it. I'll be out to meet everyone in the dining hall soon."

Tsukumo, who was leaning against the door with her ear pushed to it gave a quiet nod. She knew that was the best she would get out of Gareki. "Very well, Gareki-Kun, I'll let Nai-Chan know you're alright, and inform Hirato-San that you'll be a little late," she stated before walking away.

Gareki sighed and turned and looked back at the mirror. He was alone, so no one could seem him pull the Nyanperowna plushy that was still in his arms closer, hugging it tight. He had finally come to terms with something he'd been denying his entire time with Circus. No matter how much he tried to push people away, Yogi was one of the few who kept coming back, who always tried to make him smile, who tried to never let him feel lonely. He had wanted to join Kuronomei and become a member of Circus so that he would deserve to stay on the Second Ship. It had begun to feel like home, these people had begun to feel like family. In all actuality, Yogi could probably be considered his best friend. He gently nuzzled the top of the stuffed cat's head, ignoring the wetness brushing across his face. If he had cried himself to sleep last night and forgotten, he was glad it was in Yogi's room where no one else could see him. He would never let anyone but Yogi see him cry again if he could help it. He leaned forward and put an arm on the frame of the mirror, closed his eyes and rested his forehead against his arm. "I'm actually worried about him, aren't I?" he finally admitted to himself. "_Why am I always so useless?_" he thought, "_If I had run when he told me, he could have fought them…_" His eyes opened, settling once more on his reflection in the mirror. "Damn it!" He slammed his fist against the mirror, not hard enough to crack the glass, but enough to sting the side of his hand. He sank to his knees and lowered his head. He no longer had the strength to deny he was worried, at least not to himself. "Yogi… I'm sorry I got you into this mess… Please be alright," he whispered, almost as if he thought saying such a thing in a room full of nothing but Nyanperowna plushies would carry those words to the lieutenant's ears, wherever he was.

It was at this point that Gareki realized he would most definitely be late for breakfast. He could let Yogi see him like this, but not the others. He had to take the time to collect himself and realign his thoughts before he even left to get a change of clothes from his own room, let alone join the others in the dining hall. In fact, he eventually opted to skip breakfast all together, he wasn't really that hungry at the moment, anyway. He finally stood up and gently placed the stuffed cat on the bed, propping it against the pillow and laying Yogi's "diary" in front of it to make it look like the plushy was reading the letters Yogi had written Nyanperowna. Gareki felt his face flush a bit hot as a blush swept across it. "I can't believe I'm setting something like this up, but it's sure to make him smile when he comes back." He started to turn and leave the room but stopped. He'd left the diary closed, it couldn't very well look like the cat had been reading it if it was closed, now could it? He snitched an ink pen, Nyanperowna's face plastered all over the pen of course, and a Nyanperowna pencil topper stuck over top the cap, from a pencil cup that was, needless to say, adorned with Nyanperowna. Gareki sighed, was EVERYTHING in this room brand marked with that cat? Oh wait, he'd already searched the entire room last night, he already knew the answer to that question was a resounding YES. "Then what makes that bracelet so special?" he muttered aloud, it was a plain purple leather bracelet, not holding a single sign of the yellowish-orange cat. _Whatever._ Gareki turned and went back to the bed, popped the top off the pen, and flipped the diary to the very first blank page, where he jotted something down. Once finished, he returned the pen to it's original place and left the room.

He returned to his own room to grab a change of clothes, then made his way to the nearest shower. By the time he was ready to rejoin the crew, everyone had assembled in Hirato's conference room. Most of the crew had already been briefed and sent out, those that remained were the usual lot; Hirato, Iva, Tsukumo, Nai and Karoku, and… Why were Tsukitachi and Akari here? Akari looked to be in his usual fowl mood. Tsukitachi had a smile on his face that suggested he'd just swapped the sugar for salt before the doctor fixed his coffee. The look on Hirato's face suggested that Tsukitachi actually did pull such a prank, but the Second Ship Captain had took the blame.

"Gareki, I'm glad you finally decided to join us," Hirato greeted the teen, noticing him quietly slipping into the room. "Nai was worried you may have snuck off the ship in the middle of the night."

"I tried, or at least considered it," Gareki quipped, "Too damned many Sheep."

Everyone fell silent, each trying not to show the bemused smiles attempting to grace their faces. Gareki of all people had just made a joke, but they knew how the boy would react if they openly acknowledged it. Gareki leaned against the back wall of the room in his usual style, hands tucked inside his pockets, legs pushed out in front of him like a kickstand. Hirato cleared his throat and continued speaking. "In any case, we're gathered here to discuss the current situation. Yogi, as you're well aware hasn't returned yet. There's been no contact with him since last night. We have, however, caught the signal from his ID." Gareki felt a bit hopeful at these words. "Tsukumo and I will personally go and investigate. However, that means that you three…" his eyes settled on the three boys, Nai, Gareki, and Karoku, "Will need somewhere to stay. Just as when Tsukumo went missing, I have every operative on the ship searching for Yogi. Akari-Sensei will be the only one on board the ship at all times until we've found him, incase he needs any medical attention when we do."

"Brilliant," Gareki mindlessly scoffed out loud, "Drag him out of one bad situation, and throw him into one that's bound to emotionally scar him."

The others blinked curiously at the raven haired teen. Where had THAT statement come from all of a sudden? He didn't act like he was aware he'd said it, but he almost sounded unusually jealously protective. Hirato smirked. "_So, the boy CAN show he cares every now and then,_" he thought. "Tsukitachi has agreed to offer the services of Kiichi and Jiki once more to watch over you three while we investigate," the Second Captain tried to continue.

"I'm not going," Gareki challenged. He wasn't an official member of the crew yet, he could still get away with challenging Hirato's authority. Hirato looked at the issue of Gareki's usual demenor as more or less dealing with a rebelling teenaged son than an insubordinate soldier anyway.

"Not going?" the Second Captain parroted with a bemused smile across his face. He propped his elbow on the arm of his chair and leaned so that his left cheek was gently rested on his knuckles. "Care to explain why?" He smiled, "_What excuse will you give me, Gareki, to hide your concerns and feelings for our little prince? Oh, this is going to be GOOOOD._"

"Like I said, I'm not going!" Gareki huffed looking away and crossing his arms. He could almost tell Hirato was baiting him with that question. "I absolutely refuse to spend another hour under the '_**care**_' of those two stuck up snobs!"

"_Good cover, Gareki,_" Hirato thought.

"If Nai and Karoku want to stay with them, they're more than welcome to it. I'd rather be doing something more productive with my time than cleaning the windows on the First Ship or sitting around on my ass doing nothing," Gareki pointedly argued.

Hirato threw Tsukitachi a look as if to question what Gareki was talking about when he mentioned washing the windows. Tsukitachi understood the look, but merely shrugged, he didn't have any clue what had transpired between Jiki, Kiichi, and Gareki when he and Nai first came to his ship, he'd been away. All he knew was that neither of them had made a very good fist impression on the fifteen-year-old, in fact, they made a worse impression on the boy than he'd ever see anyone else make. "_Sounds like I'm going to have to give those two a good talking to when I get back,_" the red headed captain thought. Hirato and Tsukitachi shared a knowing smile and a quiet nod.

"Well then, would you rather aid us in the search?" Hirato asked.

"_Well, that was a point blank question,_" Tsukitachi thought.

"_Putting the kid on the spot aren't you, Hirato?_" Akari thought.

Gareki flinched. There was no way to dodge that question, was there? _May as well fess up…_ "I… Yeah, actually, I would," he sighed. "He agreed to go with them because they were threatening me. I understand that knowing that, you guys would think it best to put me back under strict protections incase they come back. But I don't need a damned babysitter! And I wouldn't feel right sitting behind a bodyguard when I know someone could be in serious danger just because they did something for me."

"_VERY good cover,_" Hirato smiled. "Very well then," he conceded, "You can accompany Tsukumo and me during our search, but if trouble arises and I tell you to take cover, I expect you to do as your told." Gareki nodded. He could accept those terms. "Nai and Karoku, however, I still want the two of you to accompany Tsukitachi back to the first ship to stay with Kiichi and Jiki. Akari-Sensei is still not convinced either of you are physically ready to join us on possibly dangerous missions just yet."

Everything and everyone agreed upon their roles, Hirato dismissed the group and they set out to do their assigned tasks. Tsukitachi carried Nai and Karoku back to the First Ship. Nai would have protested that he wanted to stay with Gareki, but he didn't want Karoku to be lonely without him, either. Lately, the little Niji-Half had been torn between choosing to spend time with his creator and his best friend. Though, he thought, or at least hoped, that Gareki understood his desire to be with Karoku after having been apart from him for so long.

Gareki did indeed understand Nai's feelings on the situation. He had actually expected them. He did feel a little jealous when he walked past Karoku's room and over heard the two of them talking about the Nyanperowna blanket Nai had gotten for Karoku, but he understood and let it pass. If anything, Nai becoming less clingy had actually allowed Yogi more space to become clingier after he returned to the ship, so it wasn't like Gareki had actually been given the time to feel lonely without the Niji-Half's attention. However, a single night in Yogi's room allowed him a chance to realize how lonely the entire ship felt without the hyperactive always happy blonde.

_***~Meanwhile~***_

Yogi regained consciousness and looked around. He immediately did not like the looks of his surroundings. He was strapped to a bed, the room was dark and cold, but the walls and floors were barren and white, almost like a hospital. He swallowed a gulp of air. This worried him. His eyes shifted to all the medical equipment at the side. This more than worried him, it frightened him. His body began to visibly shake at the sight. His eyes darted around the room, with no immediate sign of his captors, he began to struggle to try and break free. "_Now I REALLY wish I had listened to Gareki-Kun and fought them instead,_" he thought.

"Ah, Yogi-Sama, you're awake," Uro's voice pierced through the air, as the light flicked on. Yogi closed his eyes and flinched at the sudden light hitting his eyes. "I'm sure you remember Azana-Sensei?" Uro nodded his head toward the man next to him. "Your body is rejecting your stronger form for some reason. Likewise, your mind is refusing to accept the truth about your past. Azana-Sensei is going to help us fix all that." Uro turned to Azana. "I want you to recreate every procedure they did to him back then. Let's see if we can wake **him** up."

Azana nodded. "I shall do my best," he promised, "But Uro-San, should I use any anesthetics or anesthesia, or at least a gag?"

Uro looked at the clearly frightened blonde. Those normally angelic features were full of fear and desperation to get away. "No," Uro answered firmly, walking up to Yogi and catching him under the chin. "No, let's not use any of that." He smiled sadistically. "I want these operations to be recreated perfectly…" He leaned in closer, watching the fear in Yogi's eyes become even more apparent. "I want to hear him scream."

Azana sighed, "So just how Akari-Sensei would do it, then." He nodded and bowed. "I understand, Uro-San, leave it to me." Azana looked Yogi over, almost unapologetically. When he was Dr. Akari's assistant, Yogi had both been the pink haired doctor's favorite and most problematic patient. But Dr. Akari never did anything to suppress Yogi's pain during any procedure. "But before we start…" He reached up and caught hold of the allergy patch on Yogi's cheek. One good, quick yank removed the patch, eliciting a hiss of pain from Yogi's lips having it removed so roughly.

"A-Azana-Sensei, why?" Yogi asked quietly. "Why are you with them?" He squirmed and wiggled. "Please, Azana-Sensei, let me out of here, you know how I feel about doctors and medical equipment. Let me go, please?"

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Yogi-Kun. You might not believe Uro-San, but maybe you'll believe me? Every word of what he told you last night is true. You are the crown prince of Rimhakka, and you were the only member of the family to survive the tests Kafka performed on you. That 'hospital' that Tsukitachi and Hirato pulled you out of when you were ten, that wasn't a hospital, but a Kafka lab." Azana enlightened him. He approached Yogi with a syringe full of some thick black liquid. "You're the only person to ever be infected with enough Varuga cells to change you and still not change completely."

These words made Yogi realize Azana may not have heard of the experiments on Yotaka and Tsubame. He bit his bottom lip, deciding not to divulge the information. He quickly tossed his head to the side and looked away from the needle, his eyes brimming with frightened tears. "Please, Azana-Sensei," he begged once more.

"Yogi-Kun, Circus is wrong. Who are they to stand in the way of evolution?" Azana stated. He repeated the same argument he'd given Dr. Akari during the raid on Smokey Mountain.

Naturally, Yogi tried to argue, insisting Kafka was in the wrong, inciting that it was ruining countless lives in search of a corrupted evolution. As Yogi argued this point, he remembered all the different times Gareki's life alone had been effected by the Varuga, the other kids on the slaver ship, the death of Tsubaki, the day he met Nai, the death of Yotaka, the raid on Kuronomei; Gareki's entire life had been plagued by the Varuga. How could Azana possibly rationalize that Kafka was in the right, when their deeds could make even a single person suffer through so much on countless situations?

His argument was cut short as he finally felt the needle pierce his arm, eliciting a jerk and a painful whimper. Yogi's eyes shot wide open, the whimper becoming a shriek of pain and the jerk becoming a full on struggle. Whatever that stuff was, he could feel his veins freezing as it mingled with his blood, and the rest of his entire body felt burning hot at the same time. This was, unfortunately, only a small taste of what these monsters had in store for him. Tears streamed down Yogi's cheeks as his body squirmed in pain. He clinched his eyes shut tight and tried to think of something, anything to cut the pain. He reminded himself why he had come here in the first place; to protect the one person he cared the most about. "_Gareki-Kun…_"

_***~Elsewhere~***_

"His signal leads here," Tsukumo stated.

Hirato landed on the rooftop Tsukumo indicated, carrying Gareki with him, and Tsukumo followed behind. There, at the corner of the roof, in a neat little pile, was everyone of Yogi's electronic devices. They all gave an exasperated sigh. Gareki walked over, knelt down and picked up Yogi's ID bracelet. "They removed everything he had?" he said quietly.

"Tsukumo, it's possible they could have missed something," Hirato suggested.

Tsukumo closed her eyes. "I'm afraid the signal doesn't carry from here," she said regretfully.

"_Damn it, Yogi! I didn't literally mean it when I said 'Get lost' yesterday,_" Gareki thought, clenching the ID tight.

"So, the trail's already grown cold?" Hirato said equally remorseful.

Gareki stood and turned to look at them. "So that's it, then? Are you just going to give up?" he asked, trying to prevent any form of emotion from reflecting in his voice.

"Of course we intend to keep looking," Hirato assured him, "But our best hope of finding him has already proved fruitless."

Gareki held up Yogi's ID bracelet. "What about this? Isn't there some way to use this to hunt for him specifically? We couldn't do it for Karoku with his bracelet because it actually belonged to his mother and was a retired model. But, if this thing will only react to it's owner, isn't there some way to make it lead us to Yogi?"

Tsukumo tried to hide a quiet smile, finding Gareki's hidden concern very sweet. Hirato didn't bother hiding his smile, however. "It may be possible, but it would take some ingenuity and a bit of time."

"It's worth a try," Gareki insisted.

"I'll have it brought to attention and get them working on it as soon as we return to the ship," Hirato agreed.

Gareki and Tsukumo gathered up Yogi's belongings. Gareki realized something as they picked them up. "They didn't take all of his personal effects, just his electronics," he observed.

"How do you know?" Tsukumo and Hirato asked simultaneously.

"I don't recall Yogi wearing anything extra that's out of the ordinary," Tsukumo stated.

Gareki had noticed that two specific items that were missing. "There's two items that aren't here. One wasn't out of the ordinary, and the other was new. I won a pin at the shooting booth yesterday and gave it to him. He put it on his shirt."

"And the item that wasn't out of the ordinary?" Hirato asked.

"The bracelet I won for him back in Karasuna," Gareki replied. He didn't know if he should cringe or be grateful over the irony that the two items they hadn't taken from the blonde were both gifts he'd given him.

"Gifts from Gareki-Kun," Tsukumo quietly pondered, "Yogi would have fought back with all his might if they tried to take those from him."

Gareki stood up, being completely silent. Tsukumo probably hadn't realized she'd said that out loud. It wasn't something Gareki needed to be reminded of, he already knew that to be the case. He stared off in the distance. He'd lost enough important people because of Kafka and the Varuga. He also knew Yogi had suffered more than he deserved because of them. He wasn't going to sit back and quietly let them ruin either of their lives again. "_Hang in there, Yogi, we're coming for you,_" he thought.


	7. 7 - Tarnished

_**Karneval: Tarnished Silver **_

_**Author's Note:**_ To any new followers I may have missed with my last chapter update, I'm sorry I didn't say anything then, but thank you for following or adding this story to your favorites. YogiXGareki Always, THANK YOU SO MUCH for your awesome reviews on Chapters 5 & 6 that kind of feedback really means a lot to me. To my Anonymous commenters, thank you as well. Yeah, poor Yogi has been through a lot, and yes, I'm afraid that was just the start of it. Again, a warning, this chapter is short, but dark.

_**Tarnished Silver**_

_**Chapter 7: Tarnished**_

Yogi had lost track of how long he'd been kept there. Hours? Days? Maybe even weeks? He wasn't sure. All he knew was that every moment of it had been agonizing. Somewhere around the third hour, Azana had insisted to Uro he couldn't stand listening to the blonde lieutenant scream anymore. So, the former government researcher was given a set of earplugs, rather than Uro allowing Yogi any sedatives. That injection had been the first of many. Parts of Yogi's body had been surgically cut, only to watch how quickly they healed without leaving so much as a scar. Had that been the doing of his naturally born Cradle Cells, of the Circus 'implanted' Incure Cells, or the Kafka injected Varuga Cells? To be perfectly honest, nobody knew the answer to that question.

On top of repeating the original Kafka experiments, Uro slipped in false documents, giving Azana a few new ones to try on the unfortunate prince. It was during one of these new ones that they finally got the result they were looking for. Uro, Kagiri and Kiharu stood in the back of the room, watching as Azana conducted the test. Yogi had stopped screaming some time ago, as his throat was dry and his voice was horse. He'd cried out until his body could no longer properly form tears. Slowly, as the light jolts of electricity coursed through Yogi's body, the mess of sun golden hair began to turn slate silver. Azana was too amazed by the transformation that he'd heard so much about but never witnessed first hand to notice the rose vines that were slowly creeping from the bed. That is, until they seized him, yanking him off the ground.

Yogi's eyes popped open, a red light flickering within his violet irises, a sinister smile across his lips as the vines tangled around the researcher's arms, neck, legs, and midsection, jerking him in close, so that their eyes met. "**It's been a while since I've met someone who likes to play rough,**" the silver entity chuckled, "**Shall I tear you apart slowly, or would you have me get it over with quickly?**" Azana's eyes widened, this new personality didn't even seem to notice the occasional jolt of electricity, though instead of effecting the new entity, it ran through the vines and into Azana instead, eliciting a groan of pain. The current was no stronger than a handheld taser as it hit Yogi's body, and it weakened as it traveled through the vines, but was still enough to cause slight discomfort.

"Yogi-Sama, would you be so kind as to put Azana-Sensei down?" Uro requested with a bow. "He was merely trying to waken you."

"**Who are you?**" Silver Yogi hissed, leaning his body so that he could look past the researcher, to the red head whom had just spoken.

"I am Uro, I wish to create an alliance with you, Yogi no Kimi of Rimhakka," Uro bowed lower. "These are my subordinates, Kagiri and Kiharu, and the man you have tangled in your vines is our scientist, Azana-Sensei."

"**An alliance? Against whom?**" Silver Yogi asked, suddenly taking on a regal air, having heard someone address him by his proper title.

The corner of Uro's lips curled into a smile, THIS Yogi had taken the bait much easier than the normal Yogi. "I use to work with the people who destroyed your country and robbed you of your throne, Majesty." After all his time in Palnedo's services, Uro knew just the right amount of respectability to play out while making sure he was able to remain manipulative, this had been proven several times with Eleska. "I am no longer an associate of theirs, thanks to a misfortunate encounter with Circus, however," he quickly added before the entity could hurl any vines toward him. "Kafka robbed you of your throne, and Circus did not react fast enough to prevent it. I'm offering you control over Varuga and power holders alike. In exchange, all I request is your assistance in regaining my status with Kafka, or destroying them completely if they refuse to join us."

The vines released Azana, dropping him to the floor and slowly dissipated. "**What of Circus?**"

"Should they get in our way, we can take them out as well, if you like," Uro said, finally standing upright. "I realize your other self sees them as friends, and that they have raised you as one of their own since the fall of Rimhakka, but they have deceived you in the process. They've mocked you and denied you the status you so rightfully deserve. I offer a chance to reclaim that title, and do so with all the respect it's due. It will take some work, but I can have Azana-Sensei look for a way to keep your body from using too much energy while in this form, thus making it unnecessary to return to the other you. Once Circus and Kafka are both put in their proper place, we can assist you in rebuilding Rimhakka as a country for Varuga and power holders alike, with you sitting on the throne."

Silver Yogi smiled, he rather liked the sound of that. "**I like how you think, Uro-San. Release me from these bonds and you have a deal.**"

"But of course, my liege," Uro said with a bow. "Kiharu! Show some respect to your new prince and go let him down. Kagiri, if you would be so kind as to turn off the machine?"

"Right away, Uro-San," the two power holders nodded, scrambling to carry out their orders.

Kagiri quickly shut off the machine that was issuing the medical shocks as Kiharu undid the bonds and removed the pins that had allowed the current to flow through the young prince. "Is there anything you require, Yogi-Sama?" Uro offered.

"**A feast would be lovely,**" Silver Yogi said, looking straight at Uro. An understandable request as his mouth and throat were probably still parched and the last thing he'd had to eat had been that hotdog he shared with Gareki. The Silver Haired Prince looked down at what he was wearing, the tight green pants were slightly tattered from all the struggling. He sneered at the yellow with white polka dots shirt and the Nyanperowna pin that adorned it. "**And get me out of these STUPID clothes! I need something more befitting a prince!**"

Uro failed to stifle a chuckle at this second request. "As you wish, your majesty."


	8. 8 - Small Comforts

_**Karneval: Tarnished Silver **_

_**Author's Note:**_ Another short chapter. I had trouble deciding where to go with this one and still segue into the next part, so I just cut it off here and will do it as two chapters. To the Anonymous Guest who commented on Chapter 7, thank you so much! To YogixGareki Always, I hope my last PM didn't scare you away? To everyone else following the story, thank you all for the support! Quick note; Hirato and Akari's conversation is written in _**Bold Italics**_ like Yogi's journal entries in Chapter 4 to show that it was something said in the past, any and all dialogue from Silver Yogi will be in **Bold**, and thoughts are always in _Italics_. I think it may be a pretty straight forward system, and I've been using it since the beginning, but I realized I might want to give a brief explanation in order to avoid confusion.

_**Tarnished Silver**_

_**Chapter 8: Small Comforts**_

Gareki sighed. He'd not had a single good night's sleep in days. He refused to return to Yogi's room and risk being seen going in or coming out, it wasn't like he expected going in there to make much of a difference anyway. He rolled over and stared up at the ceiling. He'd heard Akari and Hirato talking the night before, almost arguing, in truth.

The higher chain of command were running out of patience. They had been searching for Yogi for a week and a half. There had been no moves by Kafka, there had been no signs of the blonde lieutenant, no demands for a ransom, not that the government would have agreed to such demands from terrorist of course.

Akari and Hirato were arguing whether or not to continue looking. Hirato was insistent that they continue. While Akari claimed to understand Hirato's concerns, they only had a matter of days before the orders would be issued to stop searching for him entirely. As it stood, Akari could no longer remain on the ship, he had other patients to attend to at the Research Tower. "_**One more day, Hirato,**_" Akari had warned, "_**If we don't find him by nightfall tomorrow, I'm leaving. Of course I'm worried. We don't know where he is, or if he's in stable condition. It was a stupid move for him to go alone in the first place, but there's nothing to lead us to him right now. If I leave here tomorrow, then I promise, as soon as you find him, I'll put him at the top of my list of priorities. But, there's nothing more I can do here.**_"

"_**I just hope we can find him before command stops the search entirely,**_" Hirato had stated with a sigh, "_**The ship isn't the same when he's gone for so long.**_"

Gareki couldn't recall having ever heard such legitimate concern in either of their voices. He forced himself out of bed, got dressed, and went to find Tsukumo. She seemed to be taking things just as hard as he was, after all, Yogi was her partner, they had been raised by Circus like a pair of siblings. But, just like Gareki, she was usually really good at keeping her feelings hidden. Usually.

Gareki froze when he saw the look on her face. "Tsukumo-Chan?" She was on the verge of tears.

"It's almost been two weeks, Gareki-Kun," she said quietly. "I'm worried. We still don't know where they took him, or how they're treating him. What if…"

Gareki sighed and put a gentle hand on her shoulders. It was uncharacteristic of him to offer such straight forward comfort, but Tsukumo's current state was equally uncharacteristic. "Hey, I know. We're all worried. Like Akari-Sensei said, they don't know how to awaken the Silver Haired Yogi. But, we both know how strong he is. We just have to believe he's alright. I know we'll find him." He gave her a gentle smile.

Tsukumo returned the smile and gave Gareki a gentle hug. This was yet another rare moment shared between the two, but under the circumstances, Gareki allowed it. "Thank you, Gareki-Kun," she said quietly, "Of course you're right. I…"

"Gareki-Kun," Iva interrupted as she turned the corner. Gareki and Tsukumo both turned to face the teal-blue haired lieutenant. "There's a video call from Yanari-Kun, would you like to speak with him?"

"Sure," Gareki answered, wondering what the boy was calling for.

"Hello, Gareki?" Yanari greeted.

"Yo, Yanari, what's up?" Gareki replied, "You know Nai's not on the ship right now, right?"

Yanari nodded. "Yes, I know. He's with Ship One right now, right? I'm going to call and speak with him next. I wanted to speak with you first, though."

"Why me?" Gareki asked.

"I heard about Yogi," Yanari answered truthfully, leaning back in his chair, both hands on the arm rests, feet flat on the floor. "Any news yet?"

"Nothing," Gareki answered solemnly.

Yanari tried not to smile, Gareki's eyes were giving way to his true concerns. The boy was equally worried. "I see." He hung his head, letting his shoulder length hair fall forward and hide his face. "That's why I called," he said, pressing a thumb to his lips. "If…" He looked back up. "If there's anything I can do to assist in the search, please let me know. I still have the information sources that led me to that hint about Karoku and Eleska."

Gareki smirked. _Cheeky little devil._ "I see. I'll let Hirato know you're offering the assistance. You can't very well run your theme park if your most influential mascot supporter has gone missing, can you?"

"That's not…!" Yanari started to argue.

Gareki gave a light chuckle. "Relax, kid, I know. I'm teasing," he assured the boy. "Just keep your eyes and ears open, any information you come across will be helpful."

Yanari gave a reluctant smile and nodded. He blinked and lowered his eyes. "Yogi's been missing for a few days now, right? He'll be alright won't he?"

Gareki closed his eyes and turned his head with a scoff. "Of course he will, he's Nyanperowna, after all!" he told the kid, reassuringly.

Yanari blinked, letting Gareki's statement set in. A smile slowly swept across the child's face. He nodded and gave a giggle. "Of course he is!"

As the two finished the call, Gareki found himself wondering who he was trying to convince more, everyone else, or himself. He almost wished Nai had stayed with him, just so their room wouldn't feel so empty when he tried to sleep. His recent lack of it was slightly evident when he entered Hirato's quarters to inform the captain of Yanari's phone call.

"Rough night?" Hirato asked.

"I fell asleep in the middle of another book," Gareki grumbled, trying to find some sort of scapegoat.

"Is that so?" Hirato gave him a knowing smile. "I suppose it was somewhere in the middle of a doctor/patient's relative conversation?"

Gareki froze. "Alright, fine, so you knew I was outside eavesdropping last night. Who cares if that stuffy pink doctor's going back to the Research Tower? He's not doing anyone any good by sitting around here with nothing better to do than sterilize a scratched knee or two." He flopped down on the sofa across from Hirato and looked away. "_Damn it, all, why is it that this guy always sees right through me?_" Gareki smirked and shifted his eyes back toward Hirato. "Although, I've got to say this is the best mood I've ever seen him in. You and Tsukitachi have been too busy with the search to bother playing your usual pranks on him."

"An oversight that we intend to make up for ten fold once this whole matter is behind us, I assure you," Hirato chuckled with a wink. "Akari-San's just not as much fun if we don't ruffle his feathers every now and then."

Gareki raised an eyebrow, "I didn't think he knew the meaning of the word."

"He doesn't," Hirato chuckled, "Now, what did you want to see me for?"

"I just finished a call with Nai's friend Yanari. He's offering any and all assistance he can provide," Gareki answered straight forwardly. "The kid was worried, but I did my best to put his mind at ease. I didn't refuse the offer, though."

"At this point, any assistance is highly welcomed," Hirato nodded. "Akari-San is right, he can't remain on board much longer with patients waiting for him at the research tower. Thankfully, your suggestion to use Yogi's ID bracelet was taken into consideration, and they feel they've made some headway into making its tracking beacon work in just such a way. They're hopeful to have it ready by tomorrow, if it's still needed."

"Hopefully tomorrow won't be too late," Gareki sighed.

Hirato looked point blank at the raven haired teenager. "Gareki?"

Gareki turned to look away. "I KNOW I said that out loud," he begrudgingly admitted. "I won't lie to you, Hirato. Damned if I'd say it to anyone else, but you're one of the few people I feel I can confide in. … I'm worried about him. I've been telling everyone else that he's alright, but the truth of the fact is that I really do care enough to worry about the idiot. As good of a fighter as he is, he should have been home the following morning."

Hirato smiled. "Well, I'm glad you finally got the denial out of your system." The captain leaned back into his chair. "We're all worried, Gareki, and for the same reasons. There's no denying something didn't go as he planned and he's in trouble. But Yogi's strong and has survived so much in the last eleven years, I don't imagine him dead." Hirato blinked, clearly this sort of thing either wasn't what Gareki wanted to hear, or just wasn't the right kind of wording to comfort him. Hirato tried not to smile as a thought whisked through his head. Gareki didn't like to be treated like a child, after all, the dark haired male was more mature at the age of eight than most boys are his age now. Even so, every now and then… "Besides," Hirato said softly, with a rare reassuring smile, "He DID promise you he'd come back as soon as he could get away." The captain rose from his chair and placed a gentle hand on Gareki's shoulder, leaning in, he whispered into the lad's ears, "And Yogi's never been known to break a promise." With that, Hirato gave Gareki a friendly slap on the back, as Gareki's took in a slight gasp of air, eyes widening a little.

Gareki excused himself from the room, and quietly made his way to Yogi's room. He wasn't sure why he'd returned to this room in particular, but that was where his mind and body both had told him to go. He shut the door behind him and leaned against it, taking in the candy and strawberry scents that filled the air. The room was warm and inviting. Gareki could almost feel Yogi's arms around him. Hirato's words had made Gareki's heart clench, for reasons he couldn't fathom; or at least if he did, he wasn't going to acknowledge it. He sank to the floor and closed his eyes. They would go out to search for Yogi again very soon, but in the meantime, he wanted to be alone, taking in that small bit of comfort.


	9. 9 - Treasure Hunting

_**Karneval: Tarnished Silver **_

_**Author's Note:**_ ChaelRi Reika, thank you for your comment on Chapter 8, and an extra thank you for following the story! YogixGareki Always, glad you're still with us, and as always, thank you for your kind words and encouragement. I'm sorry if this one's taken too long to post, I've just been trying to force myself to write some fighting sequences. As I've stated before in other stories, when it comes to writing those are the bane of my existence, I've been putting them in my of stories lately, in attempt to get better at them. But I find myself loosing interest in the story when I get to them. Oh, and Anime-Frekkkk, I haven't heard anything from you on this story, but incase you are reading it, don't worry, "Voyage To Rimhakka" is still something I completely intend to do! While we're here, I'll let you all know that I've been talking to Crimson Dragon Devil and we're cooking up something a little Nai-centric. More on that later.

_**Tarnished Silver**_

_**Chapter 9: 'Treasure' Hunting**_

Once again, the day had passed with no sign of Yogi. Once again, everyone went to bed with a desperate feeling of worry in their hearts, and Gareki a sense of urgency in his mind. There was no sleep for him at all that night.

"_This is why I try not to let people get close,_" Gareki thought to himself, "_Yogi saw right through me from the beginning, and I was oblivious to it, always worried Nai would see it first._" He rolled over on his side and clenched his hands tight around his pillow. "I'm an idiot," he grumbled aloud.

Just as Gareki began to finally settle into a semi-comfortable state and his mind quieted enough to let him doze off, he was summoned out of bed by a rather loud, especially for their sense of guidelines, Sheep. "Wake up, wake up! Hirato-San requires all parties on board to report to the conference room immediately, Baa!"

The Sheep was greeted by a pillow flying in it's face. "You're too damned loud for so early in the morning!" Gareki growled at it. Oh, this would be the one. THIS would be the Sheep he took apart. The mechanical lamb could almost see the ears and tail of a wolf sprout from Gareki's features as the annoyed raven haired teenager positioned himself to pounce upon it.

"I'm sorry for the noise, Baa," the Sheep apologized, "But Hirato-San…"

"That Shitty-Four-Eyes can wait," Gareki growled, jumping off the top bunk. "Come here!" No sooner had he grabbed the Sheep than a small herd of them barged in through the door, waving their canes to show they mean business and bleating. Gareki shrank back, seeing them gather like that. He'd been carried atop their sticks more times than he cared to as is. "FINE!" he barked, tossing the unfortunate mechanical ram back at the herd. "Give me time to get dressed and I'll be right there!" The Sheep were unmoving as he began to search for some clean day clothes. He felt a slight shudder run down his back. _Those things are so CREEPY!_ He looked at them. "I said I'll be right there, you don't have to stand around and watch me get dressed, you know? Get lost!" With that, the Sheep turned and left the room. "Rabbits on the First Ship, Sheep on the Second, what the hell does Third Ship have, Pigs?" he grumbled to himself as he put on his clothes, "Honestly, unless you can kill it and turn it into breakfast, loud ass barnyard animals are NO way to be woke up so early in the morning!"

Still muttering to himself as he finished getting dressed, he stormed out of his room, throwing a look toward the Sheep that seemed to dare a single one of them to come near him today. He barged his way into the conference room. "What the hell's so important that the Sheep are being so loud at the crack of dawn?" he grumbled.

Tsukumo shushed him. "Shh… Gareki-Kun!" she quietly scolded.

_ Whatever._ Apparently, Tsukumo didn't get the same annoying wake up call. He gave a huff and crossed his arms, leaning against the wall. Why was this girl, only a year older than himself, able to make him behave so easily?

The news Hirato had to divulge was simultaneously exciting and unnerving. The researchers managed to get the tracking beacon on Yogi's Circus ID to work both ways, looking for it's owner as well as allowing the organization to track it. This was good. They had already picked up on Yogi's signal, meaning he was definitely alive. This was better. But the area in question was a small town and currently under siege by Varuga. THIS… This was not good. This was bad. Very bad. If Yogi was there, then was he fighting the Varuga on his own or was he being carried around by his captors, waiting for Circus to locate them so they could ransom him? Was he even conscious?

Considering the size of the town, it was decided Hirato, Tsukitachi, Jiki, Kiichi, Tsukumo, and Gareki would initially go in to investigate. Iva would be headed straight to the Research Tower to inform Dr. Akari of the situation. Nai and Karoku were to remain onboard the First Ship. If any further backup was needed, then other crew members would be called in for support.

"Why is Gareki-Kun coming with us?" Jiki asked curiously.

"Never mind that he's Yogi's lover," Kiichi scoffed, "He's still not a member of Circus."

"Care to say that again?" Gareki growled. "I am NOT his…"

"Then why are you blushing?" Kiichi interrupted, choosing to ignore Gareki's protest.

Gareki fell silent and looked away. He could feel the heat on his cheeks. She was right, he was blushing, something he didn't normally do. Maybe he did care about Yogi as a little more than a friend, but damned if he was going to admit it to her or anyone else.

"CHILDREN!" Hirato scolded, knowing this would either silence all of them, or illicit a conjoined complaint from all of them. It most certainly would have been the later of the two, had not Tsukitachi been standing next to him, scowling at them. It was one thing to irritate one of the captains, but both of them… They decided not to press their luck. "We're taking Gareki with us, because the rest of us fighting the Varuga will be a distraction. Who better to sneak through the town in search of a hidden 'treasure' than a professional thief?"

"Treasure?" Jiki asked.

"We're talking about YOGI, not some precious…" Kiichi started to scoff.

"We're talking about the CROWN PRINCE of Rimhakka!" Hirato, Tsukitachi, Tsukumo, and Gareki all simultaneously scolded her into silence. Kiichi bit her bottom lip, deciding not to say another word. Hirato adjusted his glasses which felt as though they were about to fall from the edge of his nose. Gareki glared at the blue haired fifteen year old girl. He never liked her to begin with, but now she was really getting on his nerves.

"_If that's not a treasure worth hunting I don't know what is,_" Gareki quietly thought to himself. He blinked. Had he really just thought that? He hoped his face wasn't turning red with the realization that he had. "If he's down there, I'll find him," he promised out loud.

"That's what I wanted to hear," Hirato nodded approvingly.

The two ships landed just a mile or two shy of their destination, trying to afford themselves as much of an element of surprise as possible, and the selected away team deployed.

Several townspeople were already dead. Varuga both post human and beastial alike were chasing down and attacking anyone in the open. Tsukumo gave a quiet gasp and pointed toward the town square. "Them!" she said.

"Those are the bastards," Gareki growled.

Hirato raised an eyebrow. "THEM?" he asked, seeing Kagiri and Kiharu standing in the middle of the town. These were the guys who had encountered Silver Yogi and survived? These were the power holders who had not once, but twice now absconded with his subordinates? "They're the ones from Rinoll?" he asked calmly. Gareki and Tsukumo gave a simultaneous nod. "They don't look very menacing at all."

"Stupid Second Ship," Kiichi giggled. "Leave those two to me."

Tsukumo and Gareki gave each other a knowing look. If she wanted to attack them, she was welcome to it. They nodded at one another, quietly crossed their arms and motioned toward the two power holders with their heads. "Go right ahead!"

"Kiichi will be a good distraction for the two of them," Tsukitachi sighed, "Jiki, stay close to give her back up should she need it," he ordered.

"Right," Jiki acknowledged. Jiki's whip and Kiichi's scythe formed in their hands.

"Tsukitachi and I will take the West End of Town. Gareki start your search on the east side. Tsukumo, I want you to follow him and keep the Varuga at bay. Stay close enough you can keep an eye on him, but far enough not to draw any attention to him. All of you should remember while finding Yogi is a high priority, this is still a Varuga attack. The safety of any remaining townspeople MUST take top priority," Hirato ordered as his staff formed in his hands.

The Children of Circus all nodded an affirmative and the group split into their three directions.

_***~Time Skip~***_

The town may have been small, but on foot, it took Gareki nearly half an hour to reach the outskirts of the eastern side. So far, he'd checked every building he could find to no avail. He and Tsukumo had managed to squirrel away several surviving civilians into hiding in the process.

"Nothing!" Gareki grumbled as he stumbled out of the last building. "If he's here, he's not on this side of town."

"Judging by the damage, this is the side of town that got hit first," Tsukumo commented, pressing a thumb tip to her lips.

"That would explain why we didn't encounter too many Varuga on the way," Gareki surmised.

"Hey there, cutie!" a familiar voice broke from a nearby rooftop.

Tsukumo shuddered and whipped around, her eyes widening as they met the blue haired power holder. "You…?" she muttered.

Kiharu chuckled, "I was HOPING you'd be here."

"Kiharu!" Kagiri shouted, almost pouting at him.

"You two got away from Kiichi-Chan and Jiki-Kun?" she asked, taking a step back. Gareki was still in the door frame of the building, so the two power holders couldn't see him.

Kagiri smirked. "I blinded them, just like I blinded that dark haired brat. The look on Little Miss Blueberry's face was priceless!"

"Even better when her partner tried to lash out at us and his whip struck her instead," Kiharu chuckled.

Tsukumo and Gareki both had to stifle a laugh at the thought of how Kiichi had reacted to that. Though in truth, knowing Jiki's superhuman vision, they were both surprised the Rasudan Bug technique could work on him.

Kiharu jumped from the roof, landing right in front of Tsukumo. "So, are you alone, cutie? None of your comrades are here to protect you?"

"Don't take me lightly, just because you caught me off guard once," Tsukumo warned, taking a defensive stance. "I WON'T let it happen again!"

"If it's just here, Kiharu, we won't need to blind her," Kagiri suggested, jumping down next to his partner. "Circus is only trouble for us when there's more than one of them."

"I only have one question for the two of you," Tsukumo stated bluntly, "Where's Yogi?"

"Oh, he's… around," Kiharu answered, with a smirk.

"But you wouldn't like it if you saw it," Kagiri snickered.

Thinking the worst, Tsukumo decided that while they were distracted and laughing, this was a good chance to make the first move. One quick blink-and-you'll-miss-it roundhouse kick planted the heal of her shoe into Kiharu's chest, slamming the power holder against the wall of the building Gareki had been hiding in, and dazing him.

"Kiharu!?" Kagiri looked over his shoulder, his eyes widening at the imprint his partner left on the already damaged wall. A slight wave of nervousness came over the red haired power holder. He may be the one calling the shots, but his now dazed blue haired partner was the stronger and faster one between them. If this girl could do that to Kiharu, then what was she capable of doing to him? He tried to put up a brave front and face her. "Why, you…!" He threw a punch at her.

Tsukumo blocked the punch with her forearm and pirouetted to the side, kicking the red haired power holder's back and sending him in the opposite direction of his partner. "I warned you not to take me lightly," she reminded them.

Gareki wanted to run out and help her, but he remembered what Hirato had said, she was supposed to draw the attention away from him. Rushing out without a plan wasn't a good idea. Kiharu shook his head and started to get up, but he noticed a shadow move at the door and smirked. He waited until Kagiri was fighting Tsukumo again. Once the girl was distracted, then he could make a move.

Kagiri forced himself up, turned and came at Tsukumo once more. He either was too frustrated or just not yet ready to use his special technique again. Tsukumo dodged the first punch from Kagiri's left fist, only to be hit in the side with his right. She staggered a bit, but returned the hit with a blow to his jaw with her left fist. Kiharu slowly stood up, keeping his head turned so that it appeared he was watching the fight, but keeping his eyes focused on the figure he knew was lurking in the doorway.

Kagiri used both arms to block one of Tsukumo's kicks and pushed upward in attempt to flip her. The young acrobat allowed herself to be flipped, landing perfectly on her tiptoes just a few feet away, her soft blue eyes shifting back toward the red haired power holder, a quiet smile on her face. He should have realized she was so nimble. She lunged forward at him, dealing another punch, he jumped to the left, letting her whisk past him and grabbed her ankle, slamming her to the ground.

This was when Kiharu made his move. In the blink of an eye, he had made his way through the door and, finding Gareki there, flung the lurking fifteen year old through it, knocking the door off its hinges and shattering it to pieces. "How long do you intend to stay hiding while your friend's in trouble?" Kiharu asked.

"Oh, hey there, Goggles," Kagiri smirked, putting his foot on Tsukumo's back to keep her from getting up too easily. "I was wondering where you were."

Kiharu popped his knuckles with a sinister chuckle. "I've been dying to get my hands on you, brat. This time, there's nobody to interfere."


	10. 10 - Prince Yogi

_**Karneval: Tarnished Silver **_

_**Author's Note:**_ Too late to go back and fix continuity now? Turns out I've been putting everything to Gareki's left arm, when it's always been his right. The only time it was his left arm was when Jiki pinned him to the ground. Oops. As always, YogixGareki Always, thank you for your kind words. To my anonymous commenters, many thanks to you as well. AnimeFreakkk, you're officially 'stalking' me now, so I know you're gonna' see this update posted. Thanks again, everyone.

_**Tarnished Silver**_

_**Chapter 10: Prince Yogi**_

Gareki pushed himself up off the ground, clenching his fists and glaring at the blue haired power holder. Actually, ever since Rinoll, Gareki had been itching for a chance to pay these two back for what happened to Yogi and Tsukumo. On top of that, this whole deal with Yogi having gone missing had given him a lot of pent up aggressions as he was finally starting to realize he cared more about what happened to the people on the Second Ship than he'd ever dared to admit to himself.

Kiharu smirked. "STILL too stubborn to stand down and take a beating, eh?" the power holder chuckled, swinging a punch.

"I'm no stranger to them," Gareki admitted, "But I'll be damned if I'll take one without a fight." He blocked the punch with his left arm. _Damn it. WHY did it have to be that arm?_ He could feel his arm straining to hold back the attack. It wasn't completely because of Kiharu's strength, either, this was more or less due to past injuries. Gareki quickly swung a punch with his right, clocking Kiharu in the jaw.

The power holder staggered back a bit, rubbing his jaw. Sure it hurt, but he was more surprised he had failed to react fast enough to block the blow. Kiharu was swift, one quick move and Gareki took a punch to the stomach, sending him flying back, this time landing him in a large mud puddle. Before he even had the chance to scramble to his feet, the blue haired power holder was on top of him, wailing on him with both fists. Gareki did what he could to block or counter the punches, but there was no chance for him to get away and stand in order to properly defend himself. Meanwhile, Kagiri still had Tsukumo pinned in a position that restricted most of her movement.

Gareki kicked at Kiharu, aiming for his crotch, but hitting an angle that caused him to miss the desired target. Taking advantage of his assaulter's distraction, he attempted to scramble to his feet and get away, only for Kiharu to grab his left arm again. "Gyah!" Gareki let out a yelp of pain as Kiharu twisted his arm behind his back and dragged him back into the mud puddle. "Damn it," he growled, trying to wrench himself free. SLAM. He was thrown into the mud, face first, and found himself being held there, both by the arm twisted at his back and the power holder's hand on his head. Gareki jerked and sputtered, his face had been rammed into the mud without warning, and he'd had no chance to hold his breath. On top of that, he had a few cuts on his lips and cheeks from the barrage of punches Kiharu had just served him, and the cold mud was causing them to sting before they could heal.

"Gareki-Kun!?" Tsukumo called out worriedly, attempting to struggle free.

"**Didn't I tell you two blockheads…**" a voice hissed as thorned vines seized up the four of them and tossed the two power holders into the crumbling wall of the nearby house, "**…that he was not to be touched!?**"

"We're sorry, Yogi-Sama!" Kiharu and Kagiri both groveled, bowing as low to the ground as they possibly could.

"Y-Yogi…?" Gareki coughed, sounding as if he'd gotten some of the mud caught in his throat, or perhaps some of the moisture of it caught in his lungs. "… What the hell are you wearing?" The silver haired entity was wearing a dark burgundy pair of pants with a matching military-style dress jacket and a pair of black boots, accentuated with a red and royal purple cape, brass buttons, and several belts. Gareki raised an eyebrow, almost daring to imagine what Yogi was wearing underneath that jacket. However, he thought he preferred Yogi's normal Nyanperowna adorned fashion to this one. He admitted, to himself, the odd sort of irony behind that thought.

A scowl crossed Silver Yogi's face, upon hearing Gareki address him in such a manner. "**That's PRINCE YOGI, to you, Little Street Rat!**" he hissed, tightening the vines around Gareki, allowing the thorns to rip Gareki's flesh and clothes.

Gareki wasn't sure what hurt worse, the thorns or the fact that YOGI of all people, even the Silver Haired Yogi, had gone so far as to call him such a name. "Street Rat?" he coughed, still sounding like he had water in his throat. At least he hoped that was water and not blood from one of the many blows he'd taken from Kiharu. "You arrogant blue blood bastard, and to think I was worried about you," he growled.

Silver Yogi raised an eyebrow, having ignored the last part of that remark in favor of latching on to the first. "**Blue Blood?**" The thorns tightened even more and yanked Gareki from the ground, into the air. Gareki flinched and closed his eyes, when he opened them again, he was face to face with the post-human prince. "**So, you knew who I was?**" He studied Gareki's face curiously.

"I only just found out," Gareki admitted, "Just after our last encounter." Like Yogi had said, Gareki had always been honest with him, when it wassomething that mattered. "But, there's been too much going on lately. Too much has happened too fast to talk about it."

Silver Yogi blinked and tilted his head to the side. Gareki's eyes reflected no deceit. The silver haired entity placed his hands on his hips. "**You sound awful, you know that? Did you end up swallowing some of that mud?**" Gareki coughed, confused about the sudden concern. As he was about to speak, however, he spat a small trickle of blood onto one of the vines holding him. Silver Yogi blinked and flinched, his violet eyes widening a little in surprise. He knew the thorns on his vines were scratching against Gareki's flesh, but he also knew he wasn't holding the teenager tight enough to cause that sort of damage. His eyes snapped onto the two groveling power holders below. "**Kiiihaarruuu…**" he growled, lashing a vine across the blue haired power holder's back. "_What IS it about this brat…?_" Silver Yogi thought, as he allowed the vines to slash several times across Kiharu's back.

Tsukumo had been silent this whole time, watching in surprise. This was only the second time she'd ever seen this side of Yogi, and in both cases, she found it startling. The post-human prince found himself forced to stop hammering the blue haired power holder, when the tip of a real whip lashed across him.

Gareki and Tsukumo both gasped as they watched the impact. "Yogi, stop this at once!" Jiki's voice insisted.

"Jiki-Kun?" Tsukumo called out to him.

"Y-You!?" Kiharu exclaimed.

"NO WAY!" Kagiri insisted, "My Rasudan Bug shouldn't have worn off yet!"

Gareki and Silver Yogi both smirked, when they noticed Jiki's face. "**I**t **h**a**s**n**'**t," they both said simultaneously. Jiki had removed his glasses. The naturally-grey-haired-dyed-black First Ship fighter had exceptional eyesight, so exceptional in fact that he could see things others couldn't. It was because of this that he wore his glasses, not because he needed them to sharpen his eyesight, but to dull it. Because of this, the Rasudan Bug had effected his duller eyesight while the spectacles were on his face. With them removed, however, he could see just as well as if the attack had never hit him. Behind him, wobbling slightly and using the pole of her scythe for balance was a still blinded Kiichi.

"Yogi!?" Hirato and Tsukitachi called, as they also arrived on the scene.

"_Damn… There's too many of them,_" Silver Yogi relented. He turned a sneering eye to the two power holders. "**Kagiri, Kiharu!**" His vines cocooned around Gareki and Tsukumo, the one holding Tsukumo dropping to the ground as the pigtailed blonde let out a startled yelp from her sudden unexpected descent. "**Our job here is done, we're leaving!**" He turned his attention to the Circus members. "**I'll deal with the likes of you, later,**" he hissed, his eyes focusing mostly on the two captains, as if this whole ordeal was somehow their fault. "**DON'T FOLLOW US! Or the brat dies!**" His eyes turned to the cocoon holding Gareki, with an evil smile.

Jiki moved to lash his whip at Yogi once more, but Tsukitachi held out an arm to stop him. "No," he whispered the order, "We'll let them go for now. There's no telling what might happen to Gareki if we try to fight."

"**I knew you'd see it my way,**" the Silver entity laughed, "**We'll be going now. Ciao!**"

"So now what?" Tsukitachi asked as they watched Yogi and the two power holders fly off with Gareki in tow.

"Now we dig Tsukumo out of the briar patch," Hirato sighed, looking down at the other ball of thorned vines lying on the ground.

"I meant about Yogi," Tsukitachi sighed, "This WON'T be pleasant to report to command. You know what they'll order us to do if we can't change him back, Hirato!"

Hirato gave a solemn nod. "I'm well aware of what that order will be. Unfortunately, WE can do nothing more for him."

"Wait?" Jiki asked, "Does that mean the next time we see Yogi, we'll have to…?"

Hirato closed his eyes with a sigh. "If we can't change him back, then Kafka has finally succeeded in changing Yogi into a Varuga or a Power Holder. Unfortunately, we ALL know what that means. As unsavory as it is to do to one of our own, it doesn't change the fact that it is our prime directive."

"But…?" Kiichi squeaked, still staggered. Even she, who usually had no qualms with ending a Varuga even when it was someone she knew was close to someone else, felt an uneasy sensation settling in the pit of her stomach at these words. "Akari-Sensei could do something, couldn't he?"

"As corny as it sounds," Hirato sighed, looking in the direction the post-humans had flown off in, "At this point, not even Akari will have any hold over Yogi. We'll just have to rely on the power of love and hope that's enough."


	11. 11 - Care to Join Us?

_**Karneval: Tarnished Silver **_

_**Tarnished Silver**_

_**Chapter 11: Care to Join Us?**_

Gareki's eyes fluttered open. The Silver Haired entity stood towering over him, the look on his face hard to read. Was it anger, hate, or concern? The princely power holder stood, arms crossed, foot tapping against the floor, quietly watching Gareki.

"**Finally awake?**" Gareki tried to sit up, but felt something holding him down, and a twinge of pain in his side. It was at this point he also realized he was strapped, upright, to an operating table and wearing an oxygen mask. "**Don't move around too much, that idiot Kiharu caused a little internal damage, but I have Azana-Sensei patching you up. Though it confounds me as to why I'm bothering with you at all.**"

Gareki smirked, looking into the Silver Haired Yogi's eyes. "The real you is still in there somewhere. … Never could stand to see those closest to you get hurt."

"**THIS IS THE REAL ME!**" Silver Yogi insisted, pointing at himself with a sneer.

"No, Yogi! This isn't the real you, it's what those bastards from Kafka made you!" Gareki argued, his voice was strained and his words labored. At the moment, even he wasn't sure if this was because of his recently realized feelings for the person in front of him or the pain he felt in forcing them out due to his injuries, but he knew they were things he felt needed to be said. "The real you hates fighting, but understands when it's become a necessary evil."

"**THAT 'me' is a yellow bellied coward who lets others push him around,**" the Silver entity snarled dangerously. "**Anyone gets in my way, and I'll put an end to them!**"

"That's the Varuga cells talking, Yogi," Gareki wheezed, "Not you. That's not a very princely attitude, either."

"**… It's only you that I can't wrap my head around. What makes you so special that makes me want to keep you safe?**"

"I've been wondering that myself," Gareki admitted, looking away. "What is it about ME that made you choose to do what you did in order to land yourself in this situation? These people from Kafka AREN'T your friends, they're using you, Yogi!" Gareki fell into a brief coughing fit as he made this point. "They…" *Cough* "They're the ones who killed your family and destroyed your country. Why…" *Wheeze* "Why would you team up with them, when they're the ones who've done this to you?"

"**No! Uro-Chan's not with Kafka anymore!**"

"…U-r-o…CHAN?" Gareki raised an eyebrow, he almost sounded jealous.

"**He's going to help me rebuild Rimhakka.**" The princely post human crossed his arms. "**Circus never offered to do that for me. The OTHER me allowed all power to be stripped from him, allowed them to subjugate him. They teased, bullied, and abused him. THEY'RE the ones who were using me!**" He glared at him. "**Oh, but then you come along, the boy who survived the shipwreck Hirato and Tsukitachi caused, and suddenly you're showered with gifts.**" He watched Gareki's eyes widen as the look of realization over what he'd just been told filled them. Then he smiled, an evil smile as something occurred to him. "**Oh, yes, of course. Why didn't I think of that before?**" He chuckled and moved a little closer. "**It makes perfect sense, actually.**"

He placed a finger against Gareki's chest, just above his heart. "**Tell me, my little Street** **Rat?**" he purred, "**How many meals did you get to eat before those slaves tied you up?**" He smiled and titled his head to the side curiously. "**When your foster parents sold you onto that slaver ship…**" He removed the oxygen mask and cupped a hand around Gareki's cheek. "**They sold you to Kafka to be used as a lab rat. We have more in common than you think.**" He let out a soft "**Hmm…**" as he watched the expressions flickering in Gareki's eyes and gave a smirk, Yogi had always been able to read Gareki's emotions when others couldn't. He leaned forward, stopping just inches away from Gareki's face, just enough for his breath to ghost against the raven's flesh. "**Why do you think,**" he whispered, "**Circus kept using you as bait? Varuga are drawn to people who've been in contact with Varuga DNA. But you never got any of Mine-Sama's blood on you, did you?**"

Gareki flinched his face away from the Silver Haired entity, refusing to look the post-human in the eyes. He forced his eyes closed as his brain tried to process this theory. He refused to entertain it. If he had any Varuga cells within him, then why was he told all of his tests came back normal? He coughed out a laugh. "You're wrong. Nai was the one they were using for bait, I was simply tagging along for the ride. The damned animal had promised me that ID bracelet if I helped him find Karoku. I don't do things I can't profit from."

Silver Yogi put a hand to his mouth and let out an arrogant laugh, both eyes closed. As the laugh diminished to a chuckle, he opened one of his eyes. "**You don't do anything you can't profit from, and yet you ran off to school like a 'good little boy' to become a part of their organization,**" he queried, "**WHAT could you possibly gain from joining them? Friends? Family? A Home?**" He placed both hands on his hips and quickly regained his composure. "**They're nothing but an over rated, government-paid troop of performing tricksters. They'll just use you and push you around. They won't care about you any more than they did for us.**"

If Gareki didn't know the dual personality in front of him, he would have asked if that was the royal 'us'. "Again, you're wrong," he groaned. "They do care about you, Yogi. Everyone from the Second Ship and half the First Ship has been out looking for you ever since you went missing two weeks ago! Can you imagine how they felt seeing you like this when we found you? You know what staying in this form's doing to your body. You're killing yourself!"

"**No, Azana-Sensei is working on a way to allow me to stay like this without having to go back to the other me,**" Silver Yogi informed him. "**Right now, a few hours a day in cryostasis, but he's making progress. You should be happy Gareki-Kun. No more annoying, whiney blonde coward to get on your nerves. I can finally be my own person.**"

"Cryostasis, that's all you've done?" Gareki's eyes opened wide with concern. "Yogi…? How long? How long have you been in this form?"

"**Four days,**" the entity answered with a smile, crossing his arms. "**Four glorious days since Azana-Sensei and Uro-Chan set me free.**" He polished his fingernails against his jacket and stopped to look at them as he continued talking, "**It took us a day to organize that little raid you guys stumbled into yesterday. It was meant to give Palnedo and those at Kafka an example of my power and control over the Varuga, offering them a chance to surrender and join us, lest we destroy them.**" He shifted his gaze back to the clearly worried teenager. "**We weren't expecting Circus to arrive so soon. I wanted Kafka under my thumb before we took those guys on.**"

"What is it exactly that you're planning?" Gareki asked.

The entity chuckled. "**You really want to know? Join us, and I might tell you,**" he baited.

"Damn it, Yogi, stop the games and just tell me!" Gareki scowled.

"**Always straight to the point,**" he chuckled, "**I'm not sure if I love that about you or hate it, Gareki-Kun. Very well. Uro-Chan is going to help me rebuild Rimhakka, we're going to turn it into a safe haven for Varuga. I'll be restored my crown, and Uro-Chan will be my advisor, and Azana-Sensei our official doctor. You know, I could use a master tactician, or a mechanic? No, something more suited to your talents, a spy or demolitionist, perhaps?**"

"No," Gareki answered flatly, "Never mind that these are still the same people who took everything you ever had, who've destroyed all either of us have ever cared about, what makes you think this Uro guy won't betray you? Do you honestly believe he'll hold that promise?"

"**What makes you think I wouldn't tear him limb from limb first, if he tried?**" A thorned vine snaked itself around Gareki's body, but all of the thorns were turned away from him, to prevent further injuries. It would do no good to inflict further damage while he was still recovering, after all.

"If you have the strength to do it," Gareki stated, still worried about the energy Yogi's body must be using to keep him in this form.

The vine quickly unraveled from around Gareki's body as they heard the sound of someone at the door. Gareki flinched as the brighter lights flickered on. "Oh, Yogi-Sama, I wasn't aware that you were in here," Uro said apologetically. "Azana-Sensei was ready to come down and check on the patient, so I thought I'd accompany him."

"**We'll continue this conversation at a later time, Gareki-Kun,**" the silver prince said calmly. "**Perhaps you'll be more cooperative when you're feeling better.**" He held up an arm, as if waving and turned to leave.

Gareki's eyes caught hold of something adorning that arm and a quiet, almost relieved smile crossed his face. "_The real him is still in there, somewhere,_" he thought.

Uro waited until the post-human prince had completely closed the door, then pushed himself in Gareki's face. "What are YOU smiling at?" he growled, slapping his hand across Gareki's cheek.

"I don't know who's the bigger idiot," Gareki chortled, "You for this stupid scheme trying to get him to help you, or him for following along. But there's a chance it'll all backfire on you in due time."

"I'm not sure what makes you think that," Uro smirked, "But I don't intend on letting you two be alone long enough to ruin my plans."

"Try and keep him away from me," Gareki challenged, "You can't do anything to me either, he'd kill you on the spot."

"But, I CAN keep you from talking," Uro sneered, "Azana-Sensei?"

"Sorry, Gareki-Kun," Azana said, readying a syringe. "This will only sting a little, and then you'll be out like a light."

"He's right," Uro growled, "We can't kill him… Just make sure he doesn't wake up."


	12. 12 - Suggestions

_**Karneval: Tarnished Silver**_

_**Author's Note:**_ To my readers: As always, YogixGareki Always, your comments are thoroughly appreciated. Alibandi, thank you for the favorite. Tsuki Aizawa, thank you for the Favorite, Follow, and review. "No Name" and anonymous commenters, I'm glad you're enjoying it. To my AO3 readers: Amelie96 and guests, thank you for the Kudos. Also, Amelie96, thanks for bookmarking and for your awesome comment, you're actually my first commenter here. To all my anonymous inactive readers on both, thank you for reading, I don't hear from you, but you're appreciated all the same. Sorry if I missed anyone? Reminder; _Thoughts are in Italics_, _**Words that were said in the past as well as documents/journal entries/letters are in Bold Italics**_, and anything **Silver Yogi says is in Bold**. Oh, and I'm just going to start calling him Silver from here on, as far as narrative goes, but the characters will still call him Yogi.

_**Tarnished Silver**_

_**Chapter 12: Suggestions**_

"Kiharu?" Kagiri carefully saddled up on the bed next to his partner, leaning in to look the blue haired power holder in the face. "Are you alright?"

Normally, Kiharu and Kagiri were quick to recover, but he still had marks on his back from where the rose thorns had torn at him the previous day. "It stings, Kagiri-San," Kiharu grumbled. "Uro-San won't let Azana-Sensei do anything to help heal it either. He said that if Yogi-Sama did it, I must have done something to deserve it."

"All because you were fighting that Circus brat," Kagiri growled, looking away, "What makes that kid so damned special? He's not even one of us! Yogi-Sama should be more concerned with how Uro-San treats us than what happens to that brat." Kagiri moved so that he was sitting up against the wall and pulled a bottle out of one of his pockets. "Here, let me see your back," he offered.

"What is that?" Kiharu asked.

"It's some sort of disinfectant healing solution that Circus uses. I kind of snatched a couple of bottles out of Azana-Sensei's bag a while back to add to my collection," Kagiri replied with a wry smile.

"But if it's for your collection…?" Kiharu started to argue, but then he saw the look on Kagiri's face and thought better of it. He smiled and nodded. "Alright. Thank you, Kagiri-San." He took off his shirt, revealing the scratches on his back. He bit down on the pillow at the stinging sensation as Kagiri applied the solution to the wounds. "I swear, I'll find a way to get back at that brat for this," he growled through clenched teeth.

"Let's not do anything stupid, just yet, Kiharu," Kagiri suggested as he finished administering the disinfectant and sealed the bottle shut. "We'll make him pay for this, but we have to wait until Yogi-Sama's forgotten about him." He set the bottle aside and stretched out across the bed next to Kiharu. "Right now, just let that get better."

_***~Elsewhere~***_

Dr. Akari leaned against the wall, just outside the Research Tower examination room. "Tsukumo doesn't seem to be suffering any PHYSICAL trauma. All injuries and wounds were minor cuts and bruises. Physically, she's completely capable of going back onto the field," he informed the two Captains.

"There's a 'But' in there somewhere, isn't there?" Tsukitachi asked, noting Akari's tone and mannerisms.

The doctor narrowed his eyes at Tsukitachi. The two Captains were always so good at reading him and pushing his buttons, that even this innocent question was enough to irritate him at their presence. He sighed, brushed a hand through his pink hair and glanced back at the door. "Physically, she's fine. Emotionally and mentally, however… Two of the three wards in her charge have been moved to another ship, the third is injured and MIA, along with her partner, whom we now all know is in a unstable condition. I'd like to keep her here for a couple of days. I don't believe she should be exposed to further combat of any sort for now."

"Nonsense," Tsukitachi argued, "Akari-Chan, I'll agree with you that she needs to avoid the field, but keeping her here isn't the answer. I'll just let her come aboard my ship to stay with Nai and Karoku."

Hirato and Akari both shot Tsukitachi a glare for the 'Akari-Chan' remark. Hirato cleared his throat and tapped his cane against the floor. "Need I remind you both this is my subordinate we're discussing?"

"Yeah, but Hirato, there's no one still on your ship to watch over her," Tsukitachi pointed out. "They're all still looking for Gareki and Yogi."

"And you two STILL haven't reported to the higher chain of command about Yogi's current state, have you?" Akari probed.

"No," they both answered simultaneously, looking away from the doctor.

"I guess I can't blame you," the doctor said, shifting his peach-colored pink eyes to the floor. "I'm not looking forward to hearing them hand that order down, either. But, with Gareki abducted, they'll have to find out sooner or later."

"I will inform my brother when the time is right. Depending on what Tokitatsu suggest, I will act from there," Hirato answered solemnly, his hands clenching tighter around the staff he held within them. "In the meantime, while we're standing here discussing Tsukumo's role in all of this… I think it only fair that we ask her what course of action she'd rather take. Forcing one or the other on her may only make things harder for her at this point."

Akari and Tsukitachi both tried to hide a smile. "_So the bastard does care about his crew after all,_" they both thought.

Akari nodded. "Fair enough," he conceded, "We'll give you some time to speak with her alone."

Tsukitachi smiled at this and quickly linked arms with the pink doctor. "When you're done, Hirato, Akari-Chan and I will be having a 'tea party' back in his office, if you care to join us."

"Your tea party means wine, doesn't it?" Hirato asked and Akari grumbled.

"Doesn't it always?" Tsukitachi chirped dragging the doctor away.

Hirato quietly watched the two leave, then put a gloved hand to his mouth to stifle a laugh. They'd both be half drunk by the time he joined them. But, he had to admit the idea of an alcoholic beverage to alleviate some of the stress, even if only for a brief moment, was very inviting. Maybe he'd sleep a little better with some booze in his system. There hadn't been a single one of them that had slept well since Yogi went missing, and now with Gareki gone as well, they were all doubly worried.

Hirato stepped inside the examination room and shut the door behind him. He approached Tsukumo and knelt down in front of her. "How are you feeling, Tsukumo?" he asked quietly, rubbing the top of her head.

Tsukumo threw her arms around him. "Hirato, they're… They're both gone and there was nothing I could do about it," she said quietly. He could feel her trembling as she held him.

He gave her a gentle smile and put a hand on her head. "It's alright, Tsukumo, you can't blame yourself for this," he assured her, "We knew Yogi was there, but none of us ever expected this." He felt her grip around him tighten.

"They won't really order us to kill him, will they?" she asked, "He's been like a brother to me, I don't think I could handle it."

"I won't lie, it's a possibility that they will. But even if that order is passed down, there's still the fact that Gareki is with him now. There's a strong possibility that such an order won't have to be carried out," Hirato assured her. He smiled. "Come now, Tsukumo, don't tell me YOU of all people are about to cry?"

Tsukumo blushed, realizing how tightly she was holding on to the Second Ship Captain. She quickly sat up right, throwing her arms to her sides with her fists clenching the edge of her seat. She closed her eyes and shook her head back and forth. "No, of course not!" she denied.

Hirato tried his best not to laugh. "Don't worry, Tsukumo," he said patting the top of her head, "We'll bring them both home safely."

_***~Time Skip~***_

Silver impatiently paced back and forth in the hallway outside Azana's operating room. Azana and Uro both walked out of the room and froze in the doorway. "Yogi-Sama," they both greeted him. They attempted to be pleasant, while Uro hid the apprehension in his voice perfectly, Azana was slightly less successful in the attempt.

"**It's been three days,**" Silver growled, "**Are you telling me he still hasn't healed?**" His arms were crossed at his chest as his eyes stared at the two of them. "**He was capable of speaking without the oxygen mask just fine the last time I went in there, what are you two doing that's taking so long?**"

"Yogi-Sama," Uro chuckled, "You have to be patient, my liege." He gave a smile and held his hands up in the air, open palmed to try and calm the post-human prince.

"Gareki-Kun is human, Yogi-Sama," Azana said, "We don't heal as fast as Post-Humans and Varuga. On top of that, he's not a certified Circus member, so he doesn't have the Incure Cells which would speed the healing process."

"He is showing signs of recovery, however," Uro stated, crossing his arms and glancing toward the door. "I realize you wish for him to join us, though I'm not sure I understand your reasons for it. However, I will not question you. Though, if I may make a suggestion? As the boy IS still human, there's a risk that when he wakes up, he could agree to join us, only to intentionally turn and betray us at a moment's notice. Perhaps it would be prudent to give him an injection of Varuga cells, to allow you or I to control him and prevent such issues?"

Silver paused and fell silent for a moment. The look on his face almost suggested he was considering such measures. He cupped a hand around his chin, for a moment of thought. Azana blinked in confusion. Having seen Gareki and Yogi together, he never would have thought that Silver would even consider agreeing. Uro looked a bit surprised for a moment as well, but then smiled, believing the prince would accept the proposal. Silver's eyes flashed upon catching the smile sweeping across Uro's face. The way Uro had worded it, '_**You or I**_', and Gareki's earlier warning, "_**What makes you think this Uro guy won't betray you? Do you honestly believe he'll hold that promise?**_" These words echoed in his head.

Silver had to prevent himself from laughing. Did Uro and Azana honestly think he trusted either of them? He was ambitious, not stupid. He smiled and put his hands on his hips, looking up at Uro, confidently. The smile on Uro's face grew bigger with anticipation. "**NO!**"

"Wh… But, Yogi-Sama…" Uro started.

A single look from Silver forced the former Kafka member silent. "**NO!**" he repeated sternly, scowling at the red head. "**If he joins us, I want him to be of his own free will. I'm offering him something he's always wanted, but never had. If he throws that away, it's his own problem.**"

Azana and Uro both gave a respectable nod and bow. "Yes, Yogi-Sama," they said in unison.

He crossed his arms and tossed his head, motioning toward the hall. "**Get out of here,**" he insisted. The two nodded and quickly, but quietly left him alone. As soon as he was certain he was alone, he entered the operating room.

For ten days, Yogi had been alone in this very room, undergoing countless experiments. For six days now, Silver had been in control of their body. He could feel himself growing weaker, as cryostasis had been the only method of preventing his body from suffering a total breakdown from over exertion. It wasn't that Azana hadn't been looking for a way to stop the process as promised, but that he was a long way from it.

Silver slowly approached the sleeping raven haired teenager. No matter how much he tried to fight back against Yogi's dominance over the body, Gareki was his one weakness in this. He simply could not concede to seeing the fifteen-year-old being hurt in any fashion. He sighed and cupped a hand around Gareki's cheek. As he gazed upon Gareki's sleeping face, a look of loneliness flashed in his eyes. He gently smoothed a strand of raven black hair out of Gareki's face, wishing he could gaze into those blue eyes. "**Gareki-Kun,**" he whispered, "**Hurry and wake up.**"


	13. 13 - Reflection

_**Karneval: Tarnished Silver**_

_**Author's Note:**_ To my new readers/favoriters/commenters/followers/kudos-leavers and my return commenters; dorienvera, Amelie96, ChaelRi Reika, and alibandi, thank you all for your support. I'm glad to know you're enjoying the story so far. ChaelRi Reika, I'm glad I was able to bring you some love and appreciation for this pairing with my writing. Amelie96, I'm happy to hear from you how much you enjoy the way I'm portraying the characters of Tsukumo and Gareki. To my anonymous readers, thank you for being here along the way as well. All the shout outs taken care of, this chapter is going to be kind of like Chapter 4 but with a lot less quotation marks, so here's the reminder; Silver Yogi is called Silver in narrative but still Yogi by the characters, anything **SPOKEN by Silver Yogi will be in Bold**, _THOUGHTS are in Italics_, and _**WORDS SPOKEN IN THE PAST/DOCUMENTS/LETTERS are in Bold Italics**_, narrative is in normal font. As this chapter's an experiment, it's short and bitter sweet. Sorry if Silver feels a bit out-of-character here.

_**Tarnished Silver**_

_**Chapter 13: Reflection**_

Silver felt a sudden impulse over take him. He moved closer to the bed Gareki was strapped to and pushed his lips to Gareki's, stealing a kiss. The realization had struck him, the first time he had met this boy, he saved him, cocooning him in a wall of thorns, without knowing why. The next time he saw him, he felt sorry to see that the boy's arm had been injured, and had become unexplainably jealous when seeing that Nai had abandoned him in the middle of a game of hide and seek, only to find the two of them together instead. He'd thought they were ignoring him, that they didn't have time for him or want him. His first impulse had been to take it out on Nai.

** Funny when I think about it now…** He chuckled and smiled at the sleeping raven haired boy. **I thought everyone was too busy for me, but you guys had been only trying to get me to go to sleep before I hurt myself or someone else. Instead of being mad at you for diverting Nai from our game, I got mad at him. I suppose I always knew you were special. Perhaps, I've seen you as a kindred spirit, someone who would understand how lonely it is… You know what it's like to loose or be betrayed by the ones you're supposed to trust.**

Silver placed his hands on either side of Gareki's head and leaned forward, gently pressing his forehead to Gareki's, closing his eyes. While this persona was usually such a free and wild spirit, there was something somewhat calming about the raven haired boy's presence, even when asleep. **You're right you know?** His voice was a hushed, hissing whisper. **I can't trust anyone. For the moment, they are as much a means to an ends for me as I am for them. They claim to want to help me rebuild my kingdom, and I'm willing to let them… But I will find a way to put an end to Kafka.**

Silver turned his head and blinked. There was a full body mirror hanging on the wall across from Gareki's bed. This had been the same one Yogi had been strapped to for ten days strait. Silver was well aware that his body had to have gone through several countless hours of torture and torment to force him into his current state. Uro had hung the mirror so that Yogi could see what he was going through. Silver cringed at his reflection, darting his eyes back toward Gareki. **You may just be the only person who can see beyond the monster I've become. After all, you were able to force me back once before.**

As these words left his lips, he felt a sudden twinge of pain run through him, forcing him to move away, throwing his hands to his head. **Aargh…!?** He shut his eyes tight and tossed his head back and forth. **Wh-What's happening?** He'd never felt such a sensation, even when fighting to hold dominance over the body. His vision blurred as he sank to his knees in pain. **G**a… **G**a**r**e**k**i**-**K**u**n**…** He whimpered as he called Gareki's name, his voice sounding much like his usual self. That was all the strength he could muster before he fell unconscious.


	14. 14 - Nobody's Property

_**Karneval: Tarnished Silver**_

_**Author's Note:**_ Since Chapter 13 was so short, I'm posting Chapter 14 the same day/same time. I hope you guys enjoy.

_**Tarnished Silver**_

_**Chapter 14: Nobody's Property**_

The door to the operating room swung open and Kagiri and Kiharu entered. Having only expected to find Gareki, they were surprised to find the post-human prince writhing in pain on the floor.

"Yogi-Sama!?" they exclaimed simultaneously.

"Kiharu, go get Azana-Sensei, quick!" Kagiri exclaimed, running to Silver's side. Kiharu was gone and back in a flash, carrying Azana with him.

"What's happening to him, Doc?" Kiharu asked curiously.

"He's extremely unstable. His Cradle Cells and Varuga Cells are fighting each other and have sent him into shock!" Azana exclaimed as he injected something into Silver's arm. "This should stabilize him for the moment, but I need to get him into cryostasis fast. He refused to do it at all yesterday."

"What was he doing down here, anyway?" Uro asked, sauntering in through the doorway, his arms crossed as he leaned against the threshold. He had heard the commotion when Kiharu went to fetch Azana, but the red-pony-tailed Kafka agent was nowhere near as fast as the blue-haired power-holder.

"We don't know, Uro-San," Kagiri answered, "We found him like this."

"And what were you two doing down here?" Uro replied.

The two power-holders flinched, their eyes sheepishly darting to one another, before darting toward Gareki. They both stammered for a moment, not sure what to say. "Uh… Um… Err, well…"

Uro noticed where their eyes had focused and stifled a laugh. "Ah, I see. Kiharu was looking to take out some aggressions on our sleeping 'guest'? I can't say that I blame you. His presence alone may be part of why Yogi-Sama is in this current state. Our Prince has an unexplainable soft spot for this brat. I may let you both have that chance later, but right now, I want you two to assist Azana-Sensei in carrying Yogi-Sama to the cryo chamber."

"Yes sir!" they both readily agreed.

Gareki flinched awake. His eyes were strained and blurry and his neck sore from having been asleep in such an upright position for so long. Azana's sedatives were wearing off just in time for him to wake up and see the two power holders carrying the unconscious Silver Haired entity out of the room. "Y…Yogi!?" he exclaimed.

"Oh for the love of…" Uro growled spinning around to face Gareki. "Of all the times for you to wake up! You're intent on making things difficult for me, aren't you?"

"Where are they taking him?" Gareki asked flatly.

"The cryo chamber," Uro answered truthfully, "He collapsed and will need a day or two before he's stable enough to come out again."

"How long have I been out?" Gareki continued questioning.

"Three days, why?" Uro answered, playing with the tip of his ponytail as he spoke.

_ That means Yogi's been in this form for six days now?_ "You bastards! He's been like this too long. What the hell did you do to him?"

"You mean to transform him?" Uro asked nonchalantly. Gareki glared at Uro and gave a quiet, almost threatening nods. Uro smirked. "The same thing I would do to you if he weren't standing in my way.

"I'd like to see you try," Gareki dared.

Uro laughed. "Are you trying to intimidate me?" He moved in closer to Gareki and caught him by the hair. "You're in no position to make threats, dares, or bargains, CHILD! Yogi-Sama is the ONLY thing keeping you alive. You're tied up for one, for another, you're not a member of Circus. You pose no threat to me at all." Uro blinked and looked Gareki over, once. Those cold yet beautiful blue eyes did a good job of hiding whatever emotions Gareki was currently feeling. The red head smiled and gave a chuckle, brushing a fingertip over Gareki's exposed shoulder, as the boy's coat had been removed when he was tied to the bed, and he'd been wearing his tight black shirt with the one exposed shoulder underneath. Gareki flinched. Uro's touch hadn't been painful, but felt purposeful. "I never really stopped to look at you. I think I finally understand what it is Yogi-Sama sees in you. Funny, if he wanted you as a love slave, though, I can't fathom why he won't allow me to give you the Varuga cells so he can control you."

Gareki did his best to jerk away, not caring if his hair got pulled in the process. "LET GO OF ME!" he growled. Uro had made no effort in hiding the thoughts going through his mind with that statement. "I'm NOT a child," he insisted, "And I'll be damned if I ever allow anyone to touch me like that." The thought of Yogi touching him in such a manner didn't bother him, but he was by no means interested in allowing Uro to even entertain the idea of doing so again.

Uro chuckled. "By right, I could do whatever the hell I wanted with you, you know?" A sinister smile crossed his face. "I was the one in charge of purchasing the slaves on board that ship seven years ago, when your family sold you." His eyes darted toward the door with a smirk. "Let's just say you weren't the ONLY child to survive. Though, the hold of the ship was large enough, and cramped enough I wouldn't be surprised if you three had never ran into each other. They had become hazing victims, like yourself, only having received trace amounts of Varuga cells. Rather than becoming full-fledged Varuga, they became power-holders. I located them when they washed ashore and have had them under my care ever since."

"Sorry, those miserable excuses for foster parents may have sold me," Gareki grumbled, looking away, "But I'm nobody's property."

"Yogi-Sama seems to think otherwise," Uro smirked, walking out the door, denying Gareki the time to make his usual protesting denial of anything being between Yogi and himself.

Uro joined the others in the cryo chamber. By this point, Azana had Silver's body as stable as he could possibly manage and already had the prince entering cryostats. "It'll be two days at the least, four at the most before I can safely remove him this time," Azana informed Uro. "In the meantime, Uro-San, it might be a good idea to keep our heads down. Palnedo-Sama doesn't know where we are, but we mustn't give him a reason to challenge us to another demonstration of Yogi-Sama's power before then. Likewise, we have to be careful Circus doesn't find us." He looked to Kagiri and Kiharu. "You two DID make certain there was nothing on the boy that would allow them to track us when he was brought back, right?"

Uro looked at the two power holders. "For their sake, they had better have."

"Yeah, yeah!" Kagiri insisted, "We totally did!"

"Just like when we brought Yogi-Sama," Kiharu assured, "We checked all of the pockets in his pants and jacket!"

"Yogi-Sama, was insistent that we check him thoroughly," Kagiri continued, "Once he was certain Circus wasn't following us, he made us strip the brat of everything but his boxers before we brought him here, just to make certain."

"You stripped all his clothes off, but then put them right back on?" Azana asked.

"Yogi-Sama said he refused to leave the kid feeling so vulnerable to prying eyes when he woke up," Kiharu explained.

"Azana-Sensei, the boys and I will keep an eye on Yogi-Sama," Uro stated, "In the meantime your other patient is awake. No need to bother putting him back to sleep for now. Our little prince will be out cold for a few days himself. Report back to me on the boy's health."

Azana nodded. "Yes sir," he agreed, taking his leave.

Uro smirked and wrapped his arms around the two power holders. "Boys, if Azana-Sensei gives the brat a clean bill of health, the three of us are going to go have a little 'talk' with him," he whispered.

_***~Time Skip~***_

Four days later, Silver was back on his feet, feeling as strong as he did the first day he woke up in control. He immediately made his way back to Azana's examination room to check on Gareki. He hoped the raven haired boy was awake this time. He wanted to try once more into talking the teen into joining him.

Silver frowned when he entered the room. Gareki was wide awake, but sporting new bruises that, when questioned, he refused to explain how they'd gotten there. He also refused to answer when or why his shirt had been removed. This refusal made Silver bitterly angry. He caught Gareki by the chin. "**WHAT did they do to you?**" he hissed.

"Nothing I care to talk about," Gareki answered, flinching away. His eyes cast their way back toward Silver, noting the look in the post-human's own. "Wait, you don't think…? Like Hell I'd give them the chance!" He flushed a slight shade of red. "They never went below my waistline if that's what you're imagining!" Silver gave a quiet sigh at this assurance. Gareki wasn't a liar about things that mattered.

"**Good!**" Silver said bluntly. "**What about infusions, or injections?**"

"Nothing but sedatives until you collapsed, that I'm aware of. Then, nothing at all after that," Gareki answered honestly, yet curiously.

"**Then they at least obeyed my orders not to infuse you with Varuga cells. However, they appear to continue to refuse to obey my commands about leaving you unharmed.**"

"I know this is going to sound like an odd question," Gareki said, his eyes glancing at Silver's chest before settling on the post-human's arm. "What happened to your Nyanperowna pin?"

"**That is an odd question indeed,**" Silver smirked and crossed his arms, "**That STUPID Yellow Cat is for kids and certain idiotic blonde-haired man children, don't you agree, Gareki-Kun?**" He leaned forward a little. "**I wouldn't look very princely wearing that children's cartoon character upon my breast, now would I?**"

Gareki raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised. I didn't think this side of you disliked the character. After all, wasn't it you who said you had a yellow cat inside you?"

"**I was referring to that cowardly idiot who usually has control of this body!**" Silver answered with a humph, looking away. "**Though, I'm flattered that you remembered hearing me say that.**" He turned away. "**Either way, if I'm going to rebuild Rimhakka, then I have to get rid of everything that keeps me tied to my days of 'servitude' to Circus.**"

"You talk like they were keeping you a slave or a prisoner," Gareki tried to reason, "Yogi, they really do care about you. Hirato, Tsukitachi, Tsukumo, Jiki, Nai, Iva… Hell, even Akari and Kiichi, they saw you as friend and family, and they're all worried about you. Especially Tsukumo, she can't ever truly replace Miumarie, but she did see you as a brother. There was a time where I would have given anything to know what that's like, and when I finally had it, I let tragedy scare me into throwing it away. Besides, if you really feel like that, then why are you still wearing my bracelet?" Silver flinched and looked down at his arm. It was the only piece of his original apparel he'd held on to. So, Gareki had realized it was there, had he? "Yogi? You and I don't belong to anyone. We're nobody's property. Do you really want to make the same mistake I did?"

Silver turned to face Gareki, opening his mouth to say something. "**Gareki-Kun, I…**"

Before he could get any farther, Azana came rushing through the door. "Yogi-Sama, I've been looking everywhere for you! I saw the cryocapsule had opened on its own. How long have you been awake?"

"**Why are you so out of breath?**" Silver asked, looking over his shoulder at the gasping doctor.

"CIRCUS!" Azana replied. "We don't know how, but they've found us. Both First and Second Ship are above the town, and a small away party is headed straight this way."

"**Tsk…!**" Silver turned and faced Gareki. "**It seems our conversation will have to be cut short again, Gareki-Kun. I'll be back for you, shortly.**"

"Yogi, wait!" Gareki called as Azana lead Silver out of the room. The door shut behind them, leaving him alone in the dark once more. "Damn it…! This isn't good."


	15. 15 - If I Can Save You (Final)

_**Karneval: Tarnished Silver**_

_**Author's Note:**_ Time for the shout outs, first to my new followers/favoriters/commenters (as always). Latiosus, thank you for the follow and comment. If you think it rare to find good multi-chapter Karneval fics, then I am truly honored that you believe mine to be amongst them. BlueDragon2908, I remembered you from my "Shiki Karneval" story, thank you for following yet another one of my works. To the anonymous guest who commented on Chapter 14, this humble woman is truly flattered that you find her to be the "new god of Yoreki fics". It almost makes me wonder what you would say of my several Shiki stories. If this is a mutual feeling among my readers, then can I appoint YogixGareki Always as my High Priest/Priestess? I appreciate the kind words and support from all of you; those of you who are reading without favoriting and commenting as well, and my usual commenters also. I'm glad you've all enjoyed my works so far and hope I can continue to keep you all entertained in the future. I feel kind of bad, because those of you reading on my Archive of Our Own (AO3) account may notice that I had Kagiri & Kiharu listed as an implied couple. I had wanted to do so much more with those two, but in the end it didn't work out like that. However, I believe this journey is coming to a close. But, I'm not done writing fics, yet. I still have "Voyage to Rimhakka" I'm going to write, and I'm assisting Crimson Dragon Devil with "A Bit Braver" when we have the chance to work on it (which will not be going up on my account, but on CDD's). I've also got a few plot bunnies for a possible "Another Way Part 4" and for another Shiki & Karneval crossover (M rated this time, AU, don't ask me where the idea for the plot came from, because I have no clue, but I won't go into detail on it here). Sorry, I'm rambling, aren't I? Oh, one more thing: _**Darumasan ga Koronda**__** = Japanese version of Red Light Green Light, where the person playing "It" is called the Oni.**_ So, without further ado, I hope you all enjoy.

_**Tarnished Silver**_

_**Chapter 15: If I Can Save You**_

Gareki squirmed and struggled against his bindings for what felt like hours. He knew he had to break free soon. If he couldn't get out there and try one last time to talk Silver down before someone got hurt, or worse.

The lights flickered on and Gareki flinched as his eyes adjusted to it. He could see someone approaching him and hear their footsteps, but having been left in the dark until now, it took a moment for him to recognize the peach-pink eyes and hair of none other than Dr. Akari, or the teal blue locks of Lieutenant Iva beside him.

"Gareki?" Akari addressed, hoping for some form of response.

"Akari-Sensei?" Gareki blinked and shook his head. "What are you doing here?"

"Before you were abducted, I had been sent to fetch Akari-Sensei, remember?" Iva stated as she started to remove the straps holding Gareki to the bed. "It took us a while to lock back onto Yogi's signal, but Hirato-San insisted we bring Akari-Sensei along incase either of you were injured when we found you."

Gareki's legs wobbled beneath him as he tried to move away from the bed. After having been strapped to it for the last eight days with bare minimum food and drink made him weak. Iva noticed the stagger and caught hold of him before he completely sank to his knees. Dr. Akari moved to check him over, only to have his hand slapped away. "I'm fine!" Gareki gave an insistent growl. "Azana kept me patched up through all of this. Yogi… He wouldn't let them do anything to endanger me." He forced himself to his feet. "Where is he, right now?"

"Outside. Uro and his men seem to have already fled. There's no trace of them here, but we have fighters sweeping the town as inconspicuously as possible," Iva answered.

"So, they abandoned him," Gareki sighed. "_FIGURES._" He forced himself to stand. "He's in trouble, no matter how this goes. Toss me my shirt!"

_***~Meanwhile~***_

Silver stood, staring down the members of the away team. Hirato, Tsukitachi, Jiki, and Kiichi. Tsukumo was nowhere to be seen. He stood in the center of a circle of bestial Varuga. "**So, in the end, Circus sends the four of you to deal with me?**" he sneered. "**Very well, we'll play this game however you like.**" He felt confident in his ability to control the Varuga surrounding him, and there was one beast for every Circus member.

"Yogi, this doesn't have to get ugly," Hirato tried to reason, "We're here to help."

"**Help?**" the post-human prince smirked, "**If you want to help me… First, you'd better be able to help yourselves!**" He nodded in their direction and the four Varuga lunged forward toward the Circus members.

"You didn't actually think that was going to work, did you?" Tsukitachi asked.

"TSK…" Hirato hissed through his teeth, tapping the jeweled end of his cane against the palm of one of his hands. "Nooo… But I believed it was worth a try," he admitted.

"We saved his life once before, Hirato, do you think we can manage it a second time?" Tsukitachi asked, removing the top hat from his head.

"I certainly hope so, Tsukitachi," Hirato quietly nodded, "… I certainly hope so."

What started as four Varuga and one Power Holder verses four Circus Members quickly escalated. As the first four Varuga fell, several other bestial Varuga swarmed the area. "There's too many of them," Jiki exasperated.

Silver began to laugh as he watched the Varuga swarm around the Circus members. "**This dance is far from over,**" he chortled.

"This isn't a game, Yogi!" Kiichi exclaimed as she took out two small Varuga at once.

"**Sure it is. Think of it as a twist on *****Darumasan ga Koronda****. Instead of me turning my back, you get the chance to get closer with every one of my little 'pets' that you slay.**"

"He truly has gone mad this time, hasn't he?" Jiki asked, worriedly.

"That's not the worst of it," Hirato sighed as he put away his phone, slaying yet another small Varuga.

The others looked at him. "Y-You mean…?" Kiichi stammered.

"Wait, when did you pull out your phone?" Jiki asked.

"Hirato, was that…?" Tsukitachi started.

Hirato hung his head and closed his eyes. "I'm afraid so. That was Tokitatsu himself."

"Then…?" Jiki and Kiichi asked.

Hirato gave a solemn nod. "The order has been handed down."

"Damn it," Tsukitachi tisked.

_***~Elsewhere~***_

Uro gave a quiet chuckle as he, Azana, Kagiri and Kiharu slipped out of the city through a route he'd knew Circus would never think to look. His small group of accomplices glanced back at him curiously. His eyes were closed, and a faint glow was surrounding him. "U-Uro-San?" Kagiri asked, blinking curiously, "What are you doing?"

"This plan has failed, so I'm executing a failsafe," Uro answered, opening his eyes and patting the red haired Power Holder on top of the head. The light surrounding Uro disappeared and he smiled. "A little self-destruct feature, shall we say."

_***~Meanwhile~***_

Silver dodged to the side as one of the Varuga lunged toward him. It admittedly took everyone for a surprise. "They're attacking Yogi, too?" Jiki exclaimed.

"Which means he never had control of them in the first place, he was only tricked into believing he did," Tsukitachi surmised.

"Bastards, using him to the end," Hirato growled. "Lure as many in as you can and stand back!" he ordered. The others nodded and did as they were instructed. Once a large enough group of Varuga was swarming its way toward the Second Ship Captain, his staff began to glow. "Vaccum!" The other Circus members moved out of the way as quickly as possible as a wave of energy slashed through the creatures, slaying the entire swarm.

"**Damn you, Uro!**" Silver growled, slashing a thorned vine at the Varuga that had attacked him. "**Just as I suspected, I can't trust anybody!**" He growled and bit the tip of his finger. "**So be it… I'll take out any Varuga that dares to come at me, then I'll deal with Circus. I'll take on Uro and Kafka by myself.**"

Gareki, Iva, and Akari all arrived on the scene, amazed at what they saw. Even they had not expected the Varuga to have turned on Silver, and Akari had already received word from Tokitatsu about the group's orders. "He's unstable and having to fight both sides," Akari said worriedly. "How long has he been like this?"

"It had been three days before they took me," Gareki answered, "I'm willing to wager it's been ten at least, eleven at best. He's had nothing to stabilize him outside of cryostasis. He doesn't need to be up there fighting any of them."

"Right now, fighting is his only option," Akari sighed.

"Akari-Sensei?" Iva blinked.

"If we can't wear him out and change him back, they'll be forced to kill him. The order's already been given. To think the two who saved his life would be forced to become his executioners," Akari sighed.

"WHAT!?" Gareki exclaimed, "Just like that, they're expected to…? Can't you do anything?"

"NOT as long as this personality has control. It's obvious Uro has poisoned him against us. No one can control him right now," Akari lamented.

Gareki clenched his fist, as the doctor spoke, and looked up toward Silver. It was obvious that whenever he got close enough to fight one of the Circus members, they were holding back in their attacks. It seemed they were hoping to wear him down, none of them favoring the task handed to them. Gareki clenched his fist and closed his eyes. If their hands were forced, it wasn't something he wanted to witness. Once more, the threat that Gareki would loose someone important was hanging over head. Once more he felt helpless to stop it. Almost too quickly, memories of Yogi and Silver both flooded his head, from the moment they met, up until an hour or so ago. Gareki opened his eyes as the doctor said the words, '_**No one can control him right now.**_"

Gareki smirked. "That's what YOU say! If I don't make it out of this alive; tell Nai to be happy with Karoku, and Tsubame to keep working toward a better life."

"Gareki-Kun?" Iva murmured in disbelief.

"What are you…?" Akari started to ask, but before he could finish, Gareki rushed out into the middle of the battle field.

"Gareki! Wait!?" Iva and Akari both called after him.

"_Damn it all! Alright, Yogi, time to put your words to the test!_" Gareki thought.

Gareki slid to a halt, just beneath the battle taking place in the sky. His breath was heavy. He knew that, after everything he'd gone through, and with so little food over the past eight days, this was a risky move. He was weak, but so was Silver. "_If I can save just one person who means anything to me, it's worth this risk. Yogi, if I can just save YOU…_" He closed his eyes and braced himself for whatever happened. "YOGI!" he called.

"**Gareki-Kun?**" Silver looked down to find him there.

"Shouldn't he be with Akari-Chan? What the hell is he doing here?" Tsukitachi exclaimed.

"Saving all of our asses," Hirato replied.

"Huh?" Jiki and Kiichi looked up confused.

It worked, he'd drawn attention to himself, and the Varuga, knowing only to attack anyone they saw, swarmed for him, realizing he was no where near the threat the others they were currently fighting were. "Is he crazy?" Kiichi exclaimed, slicing through some of the Varuga as they rushed past her.

"He'll be killed," Jiki worried.

"No, he knows exactly what he's doing," Hirato answered.

"You sound like you know something we don't," Tsukitachi questioned.

"Like I said, it's corny, but…" Hirato purposely stopped mid-sentence, to watch the scene play out.

In the blink of an eye, Silver was between Gareki and the incoming onslaught of Varuga. "**GATHER!**" A wall of rose vines surrounded them both, the thorns skewering several of the bestial Varuga as they slammed against it. "**Nng…**" Silver groaned as he tried to strengthen the wall, feeling his energy wavering. He sank to his knees.

"Yogi…" Gareki quietly called his name, gently placing his hands on the prince's shoulders.

"**Ga…Gareki-Kun…?**" Silver shivered softly. His left hand seized Gareki's right and his right Gareki's left. He closed his eyes and felt the tears trying to escape them. "**Why? Why are you here?**" he whispered.

Gareki knelt down behind him. "You never answered me, Yogi. Is a loving family, even if it's a surrogate one really something you're willing to throw away?" Silver flinched as he felt another wave of Varuga slam against the wall of thorns, he couldn't muster the energy to reinforce it any further. "If they didn't care about you, you'd be dead already."

"Yogi's not strong enough to hold that wall by himself. Gareki needs more time," Hirato sighed, "Tsukitachi!"

"I'm way ahead of you," Tsukitachi nodded in compliance. Tsukitachi's banshees swarmed around the wall, creating a ring and placing a force field to deflect the Varuga.

Iva smiled and created her own barrier around the banshees, now the Varuga had even more resistance pushing them away. "How will we know when to move in?" Kiichi asked, slicing through a few more paltry-sized Varuga.

"When the wall of thorns is gone," Hirato and Tsukitachi answered in unison.

"In the meantime, focus on keeping the Varuga at bay," Tsukitachi ordered.

"Yes Sir!" Kiichi and Jiki replied in unison.

Gareki grabbed Silver's arm, the one with the bracelet. "Come on, Yogi, I know the real you is in there, somewhere!" he insisted, "If not, you wouldn't have protected me on Rinoll, and you would have killed me yourself by now." He spun Silver around and forced him to look him in the eyes. "Yogi, the only way either of us are getting out of this alive is if you stop it. If you continue to use your energy like this, you'll kill yourself, and then I'm a sitting duck."

Silver closed his eyes and shook his head. He could feel himself weakening. He could feel Yogi trying to reclaim control, as well. He knew Gareki was right. "**But, if I let the coward take over again,**" Silver tried to argue.

Gareki shook his head. "What coward? You're two sides of the same coin. The real you hates fighting, because you're aware failure isn't an option. But you're far from being a coward, I've watched you fight in both forms. I've been amazed every time. You're the reason I enrolled in Kuronomei, you know? I wanted to stand beside you in battle, not behind you."

"**G-Gareki-Kun…**" Silver threw his arms around the teenager. He no longer had the strength to fight back the body's rightful owner.

Gareki sighed and wrapped his arms around the Silver Haired entity. He could feel the cold tears that dripped from those violet eyes splash against his bare shoulder. Slowly, the mess of slate silver locks became their normal sunny gold once more. "Gareki-Kun…?" Yogi whispered in a tired sob, "How many?"

"Huh?" Gareki blinked.

"How many did I kill with my own hands this time?" Yogi whispered, suggesting he was aware that his body had been acting against his will.

"None, Yogi," Gareki assured him, hugging him tight, "You've not hurt anyone." It was true, the Varuga had been acting under Uro's orders, only leading Silver to believe they were following him the entire time. "Everyone's safe. Everyone's going to be ok." He brushed a gentle hand through Yogi's golden tresses.

"Thank goodness," Yogi whimpered, weakly. "I was so worried. … I was in a dark place, but I could hear you calling to me, Gareki-Kun, but I couldn't… Try as I might, I couldn't come back from it." Gareki gave a quiet sigh and smiled. "I've put everyone in danger. I could have hurt Tsukumo-Chan. … I'm sorry, Gareki-Kun, I know I hurt you, too."

"What, no, Yogi, you never…" Gareki started to argue.

Yogi flinched and shook his head, nuzzling Gareki's neck. He knew better. "Yes I did. But I didn't mean it. You're not a Street Rat!"

Gareki blinked as Yogi's hold on him grew tighter. It was surprising Yogi knew about that remark. Gareki himself had almost forgotten about it, as Silver had only called him by it twice. Gareki smirked, he had to hear this. "Really?" his voice was stern but with a hidden trace of laughter. "What am I then?"

Gareki's face flushed bright red, he wasn't ready for Yogi's reply. "You're a diamond in the rough, Gareki-Kun, beautifully strong. Like your name says, you're a flower growing in the gravel," Yogi sniffled, "You've faced all sorts of hardships, yet you never let it bring you down. You're not the coward I've let myself become."

"Keep it down, will ya'!?" Gareki protested, "I've got a reputation to keep." Gareki sighed and smiled, "_Honestly, I think I would have preferred Street Rat. He's just the cat trying to build a better mousetrap,_" he thought.

"I didn't think you'd actually come looking for me, Gareki-Kun," Yogi whimpered, his grip loosening as he found himself struggling to stay awake, "Th-ank you…"

Gareki held Yogi tight as the wall of thorns began to crumble around them. His eyes widened when he saw the banshees and Iva's force field holding the Varuga back, with each member of the away team fighting back as many as they could. "Hirato, get us out of here!" Gareki exclaimed.

Hirato glanced over his shoulder and smiled as he turned his attention back to the horde. "Vaccum!" Once more, his attack drove through the Varuga, this time slaying every last one of them.

The shields were dropped and Akari ran in to check on the boys. "Hirato, we have to get Yogi to Research Tower, STAT!" the doctor ordered.

Hirato nodded. "Iva, you and Gareki are to accompany Yogi and Akari-Sensei to Research Tower, posthaste," he ordered, "The rest of us will finish the cleanup here."

"What were you thinking, Gareki-Kun?" Iva scolded as they carried him and Yogi away, "You could have gotten yourself killed!"

Gareki looked away from her, his eyes focusing on the now unconscious blonde. "I knew he wouldn't let that happen," he answered.

_***~Time Skip~***_

Aside from a few slight bruises and a bit of malnutrition, Gareki had been given a clean bill of health, no Varuga cells having been detected within his body. He was properly fed and discharged, but allowed to stay on until Yogi woke up. When Akari finally decided to discharge Yogi, he wanted Gareki to still be in the building. This was in part so the two could return to the Second Ship together, and partly because he though keeping Gareki around would deter Yogi from trying to run away again.

"What's going to happen, when Yogi wakes up?" Gareki asked, standing in the hallway outside the blonde's hospital room.

"A sever reprimanding from his superior for being such an idiot in the first place, I hope," Akari answered flatly.

"YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" Gareki scowled, slamming a fist against the wall.

Akari stifled a laugh. "Don't worry about that, Gareki," the pink doctor assured him, "We were able to bring him back safe and alive, as his normal self, and something tells me his other personality won't try this again. The order for Yogi's death has been rescinded."

Gareki gave a quiet sigh. "So, they're not going to Court Martial him or anything, either, then?"

"He went MIA, and after countless hours of torture, wasn't in his right mind when we finally located him. The fact that he was 'rehabilitated'" the doctor used the term loosely, "means that he's capable of returning to Circus. Add to that the fact that he is indeed the prince of Rimhakka, his birthright, even if the country no longer exists, gives him diplomatic immunity when considering his motives. Thanks to you, the higher ups can't do anything. He's untouchable."

"Twenty days," Gareki sighed, glancing over his shoulder, "He had been with them for twenty days before we got him out of there. Ten of those, they spent putting him through who knows what kind of hell. I almost hope he doesn't remember anything past leaving me on the roof. It's been three days now, how long do you think it'll be before he wakes up?"

"Oh, I'd say right about…" Akari started.

"KYAAAH!" Yogi's scream pierced through the air.

"Now," the doctor finished with a sigh, rubbing the side of his head. "I've really got to look into soundproofing that room someday."

Gareki threw the door open. Yogi had woke up, realized where he was, and naturally panicked. The nurse who had just been in to check on him was doing her best to hold him down. Yogi became even more frantic when he saw Akari enter the room. "Yogi, stop making such a commotion," Akari insisted, "Do we REALLY have to go through this every time you're here?"

Yogi closed his eyes and gave a whimper, trying to move away from the nurse and doctor, until he felt a hand catch his wrist. "Damn it, Yogi! Calm down before I tie you to the bed myself," Gareki barked.

Yogi opened his eyes wide to find the hand on his wrist was Gareki's. "I don't know," Akari smirked, "Yogi might actually like that, Gareki."

Yogi and Gareki both flinched, blushing a faint red. "Shut up, Akari!" Gareki growled. Even the nurse had a slight blush sweep across her face at Akari's suggestion.

"We'll give you boys some time to talk," Akari said, motioning for the nurse to leave the room with him.

Gareki waited until the door was shut, then gently pushed Yogi back down on the bed. "Now stay still," he insisted. "You're not making yourself any better by putting up such a fight."

He looked into Yogi's eyes. He didn't just look at them, but he really looked into them, reading them. It was as if this was the first time he'd ever looked Yogi in the eye. He saw reflections of hidden hurt and loneliness he'd never noticed before. Gareki was a master at hiding his own emotions behind a wall of indifference, so he should have been able to see the emotions Yogi had been hiding, too. He would have, if he'd ever bothered to look past the cotton-candy shell of 'happy-go-lucky' that Yogi always showed the outside world. He felt like kicking himself that it took this long for him to realize them, even after hearing about the blonde's past.

Yogi slowly calmed down, and finally reached over and caressed Gareki's cheek. "Gareki-Kun…? You're really safe?" Gareki sighed and closed his eyes, not sure what Yogi was getting at, but he nodded. "Then, it wasn't a dream, you really did come find me?"

Gareki had to bite his tongue so as not to laugh or yell, he honestly wasn't sure which he wanted to do. "Yes, I really went to find you," he replied, as he removed Yogi's hand from his cheek. "Akari-Sensei wants us to stay here a couple of days, then he's going to let us both go home. But, you've got to get better, first." Yogi sighed and nodded in understanding as Gareki sat on the bed next to him.

Yogi threw his arms around Gareki, ignoring the raven haired boy's blushing features. "Thank you, so much, Gareki-Kun," he whispered, "I lo…"

Gareki put a gentle hand on Yogi's shoulder. "I know," he said, cutting the blonde off. "Save it for when we get back to the ship, alright?"

Yogi blinked. _Did Gareki just…?_ He sighed and nodded. "Alright, but… Just let me stay like this a bit longer, ok?"

Gareki rolled his eyes, but nodded, "Alright."

Yogi was a much more agreeable patient for Dr. Akari, with Gareki at his side. Though Gareki hadn't changed much, he was less resistant to Yogi's physical contact when he knew the blonde really needed the comfort. It only took three more days before Akari allowed the two of them to leave. Tsukumo, Nai, Karoku, and Yukkin were the first to greet them, Nai nearly knocking over the Sheep as he ran to hug them both.

There was a 'Welcome Home Party' for both of them. Hirato had appointed Tsukumo, Nai, and Iva to decorate for it before Yogi and Gareki returned, knowing that Yogi would insist on doing it otherwise. Tsukitachi, Jiki, and Kiichi were also present for the party.

After all the festivities, Gareki walked back to Yogi's room with him. However, he didn't follow the blonde inside, stating he was heading straight back to the room he shared with Nai. He didn't do that either. Instead, he leaned against the wall, pressing one foot against the wall and crossing his arms. He fidgeted with his goggles which felt lopsided after one of Iva's pranks had tousled his hair, and quietly waited.

Yogi didn't notice Gareki had stopped in the hall as he pulled the door shut behind him. His eyes scanned the Nyanperowna décor, both happy to be home and looking to ensure everything was the way he'd left it. He was sure this was the case, until his eyes fell upon his bed. The Nyanperowna plushy Gareki had won him was still propped up against the pillow, with the Letters to Nyanperowna notebook wide open. Yogi froze.

He didn't leave that out for people to read, and who had brought back the plushy and… _Gareki-Kun!?_ He glanced back at the doorway with a smile. _Well, if anyone would have been able to find it, Gareki is a natural at that sort of thing._ Yogi walked over to the bed and sat down, wrapping an arm around the plushy. "He brought you back for me?" he whispered, hugging the stuffed animal tight. "He really does care after all…"

Yogi looked at the notebook, expecting it to be open to just some random journal entry, showing that Gareki had started reading and stopped somewhere along the way. Instead, he found a note, clearly written in Gareki's handwriting, addressed to him, written as though it were from Nyanperowna. Yogi blushed, the sheer fact that Gareki would pull something like that alone surprised him beyond belief.

_** Yogi,**_

_** Gareki and I have been reading your letters together, and he is writing this for me. He and I talked after reading these. The crew of First and Second Ship have given you some tough love in the past, but you should realize how lucky you are to have them. You were right about him. He's had a lot of hardships in his life and has pushed people away for fear of being betrayed again, or loosing those he lets get close. He wants you to understand that he DOES NOT and never has blamed you for what happened with Yotaka. You've never failed him. Whenever he denied your friendship or pushed you away, it was his own self-defense mechanisms. However, he's always known he was safe with you, that he could trust you. You never gave up on him, and have always tried to protect him. He appreciates that you've promised never to tell a soul that you saw him crying, too. You've inspired him to do something better with his life than continuing as a thief. His enrollment to Kuronomei was so that he could return to the Second Ship to fight with you and the others. He sees you and Nai as his closest friends, and with you, perhaps maybe much more. He just needs time to figure it all out, so be patient with him.**_

_** Nyanperowna**_

Yogi's jaw dropped. He felt the corner of his eyes threatened by tears. Giving the plushy one quick, good squeeze, he dropped it on the bed and jolted for the door. He flung it open and froze when he saw Gareki still standing there. "G-Gareki-Kun… You…?" he stammered.

"You found the letter?" Gareki asked with a smirk, tucking his hands in his pockets.

"How could I miss it?" Yogi answered.

"I meant every word of it," Gareki said. "But, so help me if you tell anyone one I did that…"

Yogi shook his head. "No, of course not! My lips are sealed," he blushed. "Thank you, though, those words really mean a lot to me… and thanks for bringing the Nyanperowna doll back, too." Gareki grunted and gave a nod, trying not to blush. An awkward silence fell between the two of them for a moment. Yogi quietly tapped the door back and forth against his side, pushing his tongue against the side of one of his cheeks. Finally he spoke again. "So… You wanna' come inside and watch a movie or something?" he invited.

Gareki smirked and turned to face Yogi. The blonde blushed as he felt Gareki's lips lock with his own, and the raven haired pushed him back into the room, pushing the door shut and locking it behind them. "I thought you'd never ask," he answered. Gareki smiled and hugged Yogi close. "It's ok, Yogi," he whispered, neither of us are alone anymore."


End file.
